Ok, John McCain has now officially lost it.
"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. "I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." Newsweek
The reporter, David Margolick, didn't exactly use the word chutzpah here, but you could see he was thinking it. The next sentence in his story:
Yet here was Palin, urging her fans four times in 15 minutes to send McCain the Maverick back to Washington.
As in:
"Let's send the Maverick back to the Senate," [Palin] added, in her first appearance at the stump with McCain since he lost the November 2008 presidential election to Democrat Barack Obama and Palin lost her bid to be vice president to Joe Biden. Reuters 26 Mar 2010
Chutzpah: Killing one's father and mother and then pleading for mercy on the grounds of being an orphan.
That's the old definition. New definition: Running for years on the claim of being a maverick, and then denying with a straight face that you ever claimed to be a maverick.
The transcript of a McCain campaign ad, 5 August 2008 - "Broken":
Announcer: Washington’s broken. John McCain knows it. We’re worse off than we were four years ago.
Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. He’ll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again.
He’s the original maverick.
One is ready to lead — McCain. New York Times 5 Aug 2008
Will the spin now be that McCain meant "original maverick" and not "maverick"?
Republicans have been doing a lot of this lately; Palin was a mistress of the technique - remember "thanks but no thanks" for that bridge to nowhere that she in fact asked for? Palin may indeed have set the standard here for the GOP approach to the facts: When confronted with overwhelming evidence that what you said was wrong, double down.
They aren't just the gift that keeps on giving. They're the gift that pays you interest on top of it.
Update [2010-4-5 15:15:36 by DanK Is Back]: As might be expected, this story has been bouncing all over the liberal / progressive / reality-based websphere:
It’s an odd claim to make, especially considering the fact McCain cut an ad calling the McCain-Palin ticket a team of "original mavericks," told voters he is the "maverick" of the Senate, and appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch where he spoofed his own obsession with being called a maverick. During the campaign, he would routinely call himself a maverick as part of his stump speech:
MCCAIN: You may figure out from time-to-time, Sarah and I dont agree on every issue. What do you expect of two mavericks? Heh? ThinkProgress
Reader KB points out the subtitle of one of McCain's books: "Worth the Fighting For: The Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes Who Inspired Him." TalkingPointsMemo
(Found on Amazon!)
Raw Story adds a link to this HuffPo archived piece from 8 Sep 2009 with a transcript from a McCain ad:
The original mavericks.
He fights pork barrel spending.
She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.
He took on the drug industry.
She took on big oil.
He battled Republicans and reformed Washington.
She battled Republicans and reformed Alaska.
They'll make history. They'll change Washington.
McCain. Palin.
Real change.
And so on.