Did Superman Send Senator McCain to the Shadow Zone?

   On the series, Smallville,  Clark Kent ( The Blur/Superman) and friends battled a military commander who was based on the comic villain, Slade. In the comic version Slade wears a half mask that conceals most of his face, he is agile, devious, and a formidable adversary for the Teen Titan's, and related DC characters.

  The Smallville version of Slade is played by an older actor, with a weak, yet raspy voice. He is introduced in one episode, and after suffering an explosion and anatomical reconstructions, appears in a later episode where he kills Hawkman and is consequently sent to the Shadow Zone by Clark Kent.

   While I watched last episode with Slade, I couldn't figure out why they cast the actor who played Slade. I can't think of his name off hand, but there was something strangely familiar about him. After a while it started to bug me. I knew I have never seen that actor before, and he didn't look like the comic Slade, but he looked so familiar....then it came to me: Senator John McCain. 

   If you watch the episodes you will see what I mean. I have to wonder if the casting was intentional, or if it was merely a coincidence, but the actor moves, looks, and sounds just like McCain.

  Has anyone seen these episodes, and what do you think?

  Do you think it was meant as a political statement, a comic reference, or a coincidence?