<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TmLVtU6fTPs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TmLVtU6fTPs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> John McCain: I'm not a Maverick Sen. John McCain, who has long been identified in the media as a self-professed "maverick," says in a new interview that he never thought the word applied to him. "I never considered myself a maverick," McCain told Newsweek. "I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." That's a striking comment in light of the number of times that the former Republican presidential candidate has embraced the term; at a town hall meeting in Michigan in September of 2008, he said, "Sarah [Palin] and I don't agree on every issue -- what do you expect of two mavericks? To agree on everything?" The McCain campaign also ran an ad during the presidential campaign calling McCain "the original maverick." (check it out above.) There was also a spot in which McCain and Palin are identified as "the original mavericks," which you can see here. McCain even referred to himself a maverick on an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" shortly before the election. At a campaign really for McCain on March 26th, Palin asked Arizona voters to "send the maverick back to the United States Senate" as McCain looked on. She told the crowd that McCain's "maverick" status hasn't won him friends from the "Washington D.C. elite machine." One reason McCain may be shedding the "maverick" label is that it doesn't play well with Republican primary voters. McCain is facing a primary challenge from former congressman J.D. Hayworth, who has deemed McCain less than a true conservative. His image as a maverick may play into Hayworth's hands because it suggests McCain has been willing to break with his party and work with Democrats on issues like immigration. link
I know its funny that its come to this point for this guy, but this is sad. I can honestly say I was ready to vote for this guy in 2000 because he seemed to be a real candid politician who followed his convictions. my how times have changed. at some point they are all just fighting for their jobs I guess.
I've concluded McCain is just a desperate old fool. I wasn't about to vote for him in 2000 but would have in 2008 if he hadn't peed on himself time and time again.
Newsflash: The maverick stuff is just marketing. Just as not being a maverick is marketing. No one is taking this label seriously, right?
yes, we understand the label is just mavericky, but it represents that he is a moderate. and now he is claiming not to be a moderate because he is having trouble with a tea partier in his primary. so now he is claiming to be a more strict convservative who doesn't compromise with those socialist democrats as opposed to during the election when he claimed to be friends with people across the aisle and who had tangible results of compromise as opposed to obama who was just a talker and not a mavericky walker
Pgabriel, you just fell for some propaganda and a long pr campaign. McCain always has switched back and forth greatly depending on what way the wind was blowing. Except for his militarism he has had few principles. I do feel sorrry for the old guy. He looked so old, humilated and out of it as he had to stand dejectedly behing Palin as she plugged him at the rally in Nevada.
Why doesn't he just retire? He is 73 already, why do these old dudes have try to hang on until their last breath? Term Limits for the win!
Pgab, he's doing the same song and dance every politician in the country does every election cycle. Move one way for the primary, move the other for the general. Obama did it too. I don't think it's noteworthy at all besides as an example of the perverse incentive structure that results from the democratic form of government. I don't feel sorry for him. He's done well for himself and for the country. He wants to keep working (until he dies, it seems). I should be so lucky to have a job that is as impactful and personally rewarding as McCain's.
McCain has always been a conservative, not a moderate. His "maverickness" came into play whenever he would loudly and proudly walk off the reservation. He made a show of doing so because being a loner (being his own man, not wanting to be taken for granted, wanting to stand out from the crowd or whatever) is part of his nature. But don't let that (and the way he was chopped off at the knees in 2000 by Bush-ites) fool you: McCain is a conservative, but he likes to flaunt it whenever he steps out of line.
I am beginnig to wonder about this also. If he was working in the private sector . . he'd probably have been pushed out by now into forced retirement. Then he could be a greeter at walmart. Rocket River
I can't understand the mindset of these guys. I believe that they begin a career in politics with the intentions of making the country a better place. I just wonder how they get so lost along the way that they seek nothing more than to keep their jobs no matter how much they have to lie, cheat and make deals with the devil just to do it.
