I'm pretty sure McCain is part of the theater; I think it's clear that the establishment accepts McCain and takes advantage of him (though on the other hand, McCain himself isn't I think aware of the nature of his role.)

BTW, another interesting article on McCain is in David Foster Wallace's new book of essays (Consider the Lobster) -- DFW covered McCain's primary challenge in 2000 for Rolling Stone, and while it's rather fluffy and DFW definitely missed the "real story" of the 2000 GOP, it has some interesting material on how McCain was "handled" by his advisors.