'I Never Considered Myself a Maverick'

[ccharles000]

To say that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) built his most recent persona -- the latest in a series -- around the notion of being a "maverick" would be a dramatic understatement. The "m" word was practically a verbal tick for McCain -- he'd use it constantly, whether it made sense or not, similar to the way Rudy Giuliani would mutter "9/11" at random moments throughout his day.

In 2008, McCain's television ads described him as "the original maverick." When McCain and Sarah Palin would routinely take different positions during their national campaign, aides insisted this was to be expected from "a couple of mavericks." A quick search of McCain's Senate website turns up several dozen references to the senator being a "maverick" -- in some cases, press releases, instead of quoting McCain by name, would simply note, "The Maverick said..." McCain's website for his Senate campaign does the same thing, using "McCain" and "Maverick" interchangeably, as if they were practically the same word.

The point, of course, was to create a McCain brand, of sorts, characterizing the conservative senator as the kind of politician who doesn't mind bucking his unpopular party from time to time.

That persona, however, no longer suits McCain's purposes. So, it's been scrapped.

Many of the GOP's most faithful, the kind who vote in primaries despite 115-degree heat, tired long ago of McCain the Maverick, the man who had crossed the aisle to work with Democrats on issues like immigration reform, global warming, and restricting campaign contributions. "Maverick" is a mantle McCain no longer claims; in fact, he now denies he ever was one. "I never considered myself a maverick," he told me.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_04/023203.php

[Phx_Dem]

1. YOU LIE!

Or maybe you're just senile.

[chill_wind]

2. If their lips are moving....

Ed Schultz just debunked this pathetic denial by McCain with the ad footage.

Pathetic and dumb. McCain- not the sharpest knife in the drawer, for sure.

[jenmito]

3. "Let's send the MAVERICK back to the Senate!"-Sarah Palin with McCain standing right next to her.

I hope McCain still beats Hayworth (since that'll mean a loss for the teabaggers) but he showed, once again, he's either senile or a liar (or a senile liar).

[Earth Bound Misfit]

4. Neither did I.

[Faygo Kid]

5. I always considered him an a-hole.

One nasty, mean, fraudulent piece of work. Just a nasty human being. Grassley is the same sort.

[cliffordu]

6. My my, what a mavericky thing to say.

:rofl:

[Dappleganger]

7. Time to put that horse out to pasture.

[ChicagoSuz219]

8. Ya think? He's totally lost it... n/t

[saltpoint]

9. And fortunately for us, ten million or so fewer Americans considered McCain

quite a bit less presidential than Barack Obama in November 2008.

Here on DU we could not have harpooned "The Maverick" if The Maverick hadn't claimed that image.

[old mark]

10. Maybe hs is a little senile and he just forgot.......nt

[peekaloo]

11. and he never likes to talk about his POW days either.

wanker.

[HughMoran]

12. Group Of Psychos

Say anything, do anything to get elected - moron followers vote for them anyway.

[Forkboy]

13. People who call themselves mavericks never are.

[Orsino]

14. I don't recall considering him one, either.

I do believe that he will say anything now to reestablish himself as a "genuine conservative" when threatened in a primary.