Wash. Post Reporter Sticks Up For McCain’s ‘Maverick’ Brand
Wash. Post Reporter Sticks Up For McCain’s ‘Maverick’ Brand
In the washingtonpost.com’s “Post Politics Hour” web chat last Friday, a questioner noted that President Bush is “fantastically unpopular” and that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) “policies are, on the major issues, pretty much the same as Bush’s.” The questioner then wondered: “So what the heck is going on that McCain could be even within 20 points of either” Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) or Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in the polls?
Post reporter Jonathan Weisman said the reason is that McCain has been “branded” an “independent maverick.” As evidence justifying such a brand, Weisman cited the senator’s efforts in 1998 to regulate tobacco despite strong misgivings from his GOP colleagues:
In case you want to stop playing Milbank for a while: Who are these people who loathe everything the Republicans have done in the past seven years, and yet would be willing to cast their votes for McCain anyway?
Jonathan Weisman: I am dead serious. McCain has cultivated an image that has branded him as an independent maverick now for more than a decade. He fought the GOP over tobacco in 1998.
Weisman is correct; McCain championed legislation to regulate the tobacco industry in 1998 that his Republican friends didn’t like. McCain even said he would “never” give up his efforts to regulate the industry.
But Weisman’s defense of McCain’s self-ascribed “maverick” label falls short of the facts. The reality is that McCain’s “never” pledge didn’t last very long. Not only has he since voted against a bill that would have raised tobacco taxes by 61 cents in order to pay for an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, but McCain is now backing away from a tobacco regulation bill that he co-sponsored.
As further evidence that McCain is an “independent maverick,” Weisman said he has “clashed” with Bush “repeatedly” -– but offered no details –- and claimed that McCain “wants to end government-sanctioned torture.” But McCain has actually voted to enable “government-sanctioned torture,” a position that is in lock-step with President Bush.
Weisman concluded that “Americans see McCain the way they want to” and it is “going to be hard to break” McCain’s “maverick” brand. But maybe Americans see McCain as a “straight-talking maverick” because, despite all evidence to the contrary, that’s how the media constantly portray him.
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24 Responses to “Wash. Post Reporter Sticks Up For McCain’s ‘Maverick’ Brand”
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Well, I say it's long past time we brand Mr. McCain as what he REALLY is: a pandering hypocritical tool and wannabe Bush clone.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:42 pmJohn Cheney McSame is a "maverick" like Rudolf Hess was a "maverick."
April 21st, 2008 at 6:43 pmJohn McCain is no maverick. John McCain is a liar.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:43 pmGive the old coot a break. He was having a senior moment.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:45 pmYou don't want to piss the old coot off.
Time to halt the infighting & get behind the Dem candidate, whomever that may turn out to be. TIme for the blogosphere to start tearing full bore into the McBush "macho maverick" myth before it overwhelms this campaign via St. John's deification by the MSM.
Way past time.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:47 pmJohn McClown as a maverick is just window dressing. Sort of like George Bush in a flight suit.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:55 pm“independent maverick" - Hoo Boy.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:56 pmJust like Dubya is a cowboy, Condi is a diplomat, the Marloboro Man was a real hero, like Alberto was a honest attorney, like Dead-Eye Dick is an honorable man... You get the idea.
If McCain is a maverick, how come he is still eating and shitting in the GOP Corporate pasture?
April 21st, 2008 at 6:56 pmSince when has the definition of maverick been a crusty old curmudgeon?
April 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pmneoliberalism Says:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wayne A. Schneider Says:
When has McCain lied? You have no evidence or proof. Play again!!
April 21st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Voted against making torture illegal for any branch of the US military or agency of the US ; has not backed a bill sponsored by Jim Webb that increases Veteran benefits , shithead.
BTW
Jonathan Weisman is a Chimpy cheerleader and a GOP tool ; what a lying piece of crap..........
April 21st, 2008 at 7:09 pmHe was agin' Big Tobaco 'fore he was for it. Can you say FLIIIP-FLOPPP?
April 21st, 2008 at 7:16 pmMy definition of what constitutes "lying" is any attempt to deceive people into believing something that isn't true. McCain tries to convince people that he believes in a woman's right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy, but will immediately turn around and tell the religious right that he opposes abortion. He was against the Bush tax cuts that heavily favored the most wealthy among us, but when it looked like that might cost him the Republican nomination, he flip-flopped and said we should make them permanent. He disclosed his tax forms, but his the fact that his wife is worth millions and millions more than his. Was he trying to be totally honest, or trying to deceive people into thinking that he isn't as wealthy as he pretends to be. (Or maybe he doesn't believe in paying his fair share of taxes, like many other multi-millionaires do.) Taken as a whole, these events, and many others like them, constitute an attempt by McCain to deceive people. Ergo, John McCain is a liar.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:19 pmCorrection for clarity:
He disclosed his tax forms, but hid the fact that his wife is worth millions and millions more than he is.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:20 pmWayne A. Schneider Says:
...Taken as a whole, these events, and many others like them, constitute an attempt by McCain to deceive people. Ergo, John McCain is a liar.
And a hypocrite!
April 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pmMcCain wants to be elected more than just about anything else. He's willing to take any position to fit any crowd at any given time. He'd sell his ancient old mother if he thought that would help....oh yeah, he already did that. And how about that Home Cookin' at the McCain household. The only thing that's genuine is his age.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:33 pmThe only thing transparent here is how transparent the spin is. Nobody who is neutral could seriously believe McCain is independent from Republican orthodoxy. McCain's pandering on making the Bush tax cuts permanent is proof positive of this. How anybody that has paid any attention to this campaign could miss this boggles the mind -- unless they were connected in some way to the McCain campaign.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:40 pmPolls this far out mean nothing. Especially since there is no one chosen Democratic candidate. McBush is having a free ride as C&O fight amongst themselves and give the rethugs ammunition to fight with in the general.
To me any poll like this is a waste of newsprint.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pmKnowingly or not, Weisman serves up a remarkable, scathing indictment of himself and his industry with this rationale for not challenging McCain: "McCain has cultivated an image that has branded him as an independent maverick now for more than a decade."
Huh? Perhaps I am reflecting my own hopelessly outdated naivete, but when did it become journalists' obligation to merely accept an "image" that a politician has "cultivated?" And why should they be content with a "brand," just because it has endured "for more than a decade?" Isn't it the duty of journalists to look past the image and seek the truth? And isn't it likely that such images endure precisely because these lazy-ass, incompetent charlatans don't do their jobs?
Yeah, I know. I may as well resume believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:02 pmCatharine Graham just rolled over!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:39 pmscurvybro Says:
I agree. If McCain has this image in people's minds, it's because the media helped give them that image. They were the onews reporting to the people the use of the words "maverick", even though people with no objectivity were uttering them. Being a reporter does not mean being a stenographer. It means digging for the truth. So what if people say McCain is a "maverick". Is he really? The facts suggest he is not.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:20 pmAnother problem is that people listen to sound bits. They don't check out the facts, they have become complacent. A good example is how many people watch Fox News. We know that you can't believe anything they say.
But my father-in-law loves Bill O'Reilly. He believes everything he says about John McCain. OMG, I have tried and tried to convince him not to listen to that man. I have come to the conclusion, that some people have a preconceived opinion of John McCain. They are never going to change their minds no matter what the facts are. (Maverick, War-Hero)
April 21st, 2008 at 11:27 pm.
B U M P E R
S T I C K E R
MAVERICK MAN!
.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 amGive me a Fu&^^%en Break. How corrupt is this reporter? Stop the bull and tell the truth about how he panders to every group just for a vote. He has no standards. He left his first wife for Cindy, while his first wife was sick. This is a man who tell you to Fu&^^ off if he doesn't agree with you. THIS IS A MAN WHO FLIP FLOPPS ALL THE TIME AND THE PRESS DOESN'T CALL HIM OUT ON IT!!! I guess it was ok to call Kerry a flip floper, I guess our standards have changed. Maybe not, look at the president the american public voted for last time.
I guess the stupid will follow the stupid.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 amGlenn Greenwald takes care of McCain the "maverick" (and the obsequious behaviour of the so-called "left wing" media) in his new book Great American Hypocrites, in particular, in Chapter 6. Go gte a copy and read it.
Cheers,
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm