Politics

McCain De-Mavericks Himself

By Anne Landman

John McCain (R-Arizona) who has long proudly promoted himself to the public and the media as a "maverick" politician, is now disavowing that label. During the 2008 presidential campaign, McCain ran ads identifying himself and his running mate Sarah Palin as "the original mavericks." At a town hall-style meeting In Michigan in 2008, he said, "Sarah [Palin] and I don't agree on every issue -- what do you expect of two mavericks? To agree on everything?" Even more recently at campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona, in March, Sarah Palin, stumping for McCain, urged the crowd four times to "send McCain the Maverick back to Washington." Yet in a Newsweek article about him published in the magazine's April 3 issue, McCain says he never believed the word applied to him. McCain told Newsweek "I never considered myself a Maverick. I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." This marked shift in how he is portraying himself raises questions among his Arizona electorate, like to what extent has McCain's "maverick" label been tactical instead or real? Or, like back in his POW days, is McCain doing whatever it takes to survive politically? Which McCain is the real John McCain?

Full post as published by PR Watch on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).