McCain, Maverick No More?

McCain's favorite role in defeat seems to be trying to straighten out the man who beat him.

In other words he was never a Maverick. He was just a petulent child acting out against whoever took the prize he wanted.

The media's McCain fetish continues. Inexplicably. I keep trying to figure out why every McCain utterance is newsworthy. I don't remember the media fawning over John Kerry during the Bush years like this, do you JNS? McCain lost bigger. So why is he still front and center?

Jay Newton-Small:

John McCain returned to the Senate in 2000 a virtual liberal: throwing bombs at his Republican leaders (and especially George W. Bush).

Do you have any idea what a "liberal" actually is?
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Are you aware that liberalism involves slightly more than "throwing bombs at...Republican leaders" or impassioned criticism of the latter Bush presidency?
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I feel certain that you must be confused as to what we are, otherwise you couldn't possibly make such a silly, nonsensical statement.

McCain's "credibility" with the Villagers (incl George Step - who talks daily with Rahm and Co if that is to be believed -) is a source of wonder. This man has never seen a war he did not want to fight; he has been a thorn in the side of both Republican and Democratic Presidents (ask GWB) and he has our Villagers eating out of his hand.

But has he had an original thought in recent times? Oh yes: he chose Palin as his VP. Now that was an original thought.

stuartzechman... it's smart posts like the one above that make me dream of being your Thai boy-slave (but don't tell Amy Sullivan).

"His appearances on the Sunday talk shows are more frequent"
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Well yes they most certainly are frequent. More frequently than any other politician for that matter. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/24/mccain-sunday-shows/
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As for his relative frequency of appearances, "McCain has been on “Meet the Press” twice (July 12 and March 29), “Face the Nation” three times (August 30, April 26, and February 8), CNN's “State of the Union” twice (August 2 and February 15), and “Fox News Sunday” three times (July 2, March 8, and January 25). His appearance on “This Week” on Sunday will be his third visit in five months (September 27, August 23, and May 10)." So, he's appeared:
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Jan. 25
Feb. 8
Feb. 15
March 8
March 29
April 26
May 10
July 2
July 12
August 2
August 23
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So the only period he went more than a month without an appearance was May 10- July 2. That's not really laying low, and contradicts your suggestion that his appearances have gained in frequency. Ever since President Obama was inaugurated Jan. 20, McCain has been a reliable fixture on the Gasbag Circuit, appearing reliably every 3rd week or more.
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In the same time period after losing to George W Bush, John Kerry appeared 3 times on the Sunday shows. But, you see, it is President Obama and not *President* McCain who is clearly "overexposed."

P.S. "Maverick" is an idiotic expression. The "Rogue" and the "Maverick..." Anyway, I know full well that all news is good news for John McCain.

I think JNS is being *ironic*.
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JNS-We know you all in the press have had at least a decade old love affair with John McCain. You are constantly building narratives for him and hiding flaws. Fixing his jumbled up thoughts and eplaining what he really meant to say, hiding his flashes of angry old man so the public doesn't see his real John McCain, but your invention of him.
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I mean, should we forget the visits to the ranch, the long hot steamy nights sitting at knee at the back of bus, the rub, the sprinkle donuts and coffee.
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You in the press have taken John from war hero (which he is) but that was a long time ago in another time and place, to maverick which he is not and has never really been. Some where along the way you saw a virtual liberal because he opposed a man that took really really low and unnecessary blows at his family. Blows he took personally and very few of his colleagues there in the good old boys club had his back when he needed them most.
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This is blog post is an epic fail Ms. JNS. You reporters, you reporters in the MSM who have been on this beat for a while, have no credibility when it comes to John McCain. So narrative build one more time for John McCain, but very few are buying the BS anymore and most of us never did.
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McCain and Palin use(d) the term Maverick the way smurfs say smurf. It's a way to make it sounds like they're different from all the party bickering. All in all it was just meant to hide McCains vindictive and cranky nature and Sarah Palins inability to clearly articulate what she stod for outside her plastic understanding of what she is or conservatism means. 'I'm a Maverick doing Maverickie stuff, dontcha know?'

Politics is all emotional with McCain: he hit Bush from the left because that's how you attack a conservative president and he's hitting Obama from the left b/c that's what you do to a democratic president.

My counter-factual for the day: if 9/11 hadn't happened he'd have gone for Bush in the primaries and pulled a Ted Kennedy and there would have been a lot of money going towards him.

Why do only Libs and Dems view McCain as conservative to begin with? I'm Libertarian, not Repub, but I can see clear as day that McCain is not the model Republican the media seems to tout him as. Why don't they tout Lieberman as the model Dem the way they do McCain for the Repub?

To be fair to JNS, if you look at the bottom of the article, Michael Sherer gets writing credit as well. And we know how HE feels about St. John.

Why don't they tout Lieberman as the model Dem the way they do McCain for the Repub?"
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Well, actually, they pretty much do. Both are right of center "Centrists" who have the eternal Village Stamp of Approval for their unyielding commitment to always split the baby directly in half.

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/10/08/mccain-maverick-no-more/#comments#ixzz0TNdst1GJ

I would totally disagree with this statement. McCain is held up as if, "why can't more republicans be like him?". Lieberman is held up as if, "see what happens when a Dem becomes more moderate? He loses his mind."

John McCain returned to the Senate in 2000 a virtual liberal
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Of course, it all makes sense now: JNS doesn't actually know what a liberal is!

I think the key word here is "virtual," i.e., a simulacrum. He doesn't have policies - he has a back-story and a loud voice.

John McCain as a liberal? That's harder to imagine than Rudy as a woman. Not as much fun, just harder. John's days of being a maverick are long gone. He's settled firmly into the "get off of my lawn" role. It's easier to imagine him throwing a set of false teeth at a kid riding by on a bicycle.

Why the hell do we care what Grampa Leatherface has to say about anything?
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Hell, he's my Senator and all I want is for him to go play some Bingo and take a nap.

As a former McCain backer in 2000, I became disenchanted with his vicious campaign against Obama and his lack of wisdom in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Now he is even more of a disappointment. I really had hopes that he would rise again and become a statesmanlike senior senator by working toward real bipartisanship and leading us back to stability by helping Obama achieve his goals. Instead I am forced to realize that he is just another political hack. No statesmanship there.

What a yawn... McCain has nothing left in him. What I find exhausting is that he is constantly reelected by the state of Arizona. I have concluded that his reelection must be out of respect, seeing as he is an older fellow .
I have nothing against being old and hope to be that old some day, but I have very little regard for McCain.
In my opinion, he is an opportunist, always choosing the side that seems most favorable to him while leaving the state which elected him essentially to fare for themselves.

Maverick? A Maverick is defined as “One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter”... Since he has found the old gospel of Conservatism and again chosen the side most beneficial to him, McCain is definitely no Maverick-he is a conformist. He was not a maverick then (during the campaign), and is not one now.

Many moderates like me will not ever go back to the Republican party because McCain who was not really a Republican was chosen to be the flag bearer of the party AND then to add insult to injury he chose a woman who was completely unqualified in an apparent misguided attempt to capture the female vote.

Evidently, McCain missed the memo that these days women are no longer relegated to the kitchens and back rooms... these days we actually prefer to be represented by knowledgeable educated and learned women.

Emm, hello McCain—emmm No, A woman is NOT electable on account of gender alone—that was in the “olden days” per the equally learned Paris Hilton (Paris Hilton is just as learned as Palin if you ask me. He might as well have chosen her as his running mate. Both Palin and Paris see things from their windows such as Russia, video cameras etc. and both think it gives them vast knowledge on these matters) ha

So McCain's “born again” stance is based on sour grapes. He lost horribly to a new, young and dynamic Senator. I hope Hayworth beats him in the primaries. McCain needs to be replaced, he and others like him are a drain on the Republican party .

LM

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/