Monitoring the Maverick

The relationships between the news media and the candidates are generally much more complex than the reigning narratives of the moment would suggest. There's no doubt that Sen John McCain (R-AZ) has long had a good relationship with reporters. And no wonder. He gives great access. He seems to enjoy the give-and-take. He conveys an air of authenticity. And he makes for great copy. The POW saga gives him serious street cred. The post-Keating Five, born-again reformer is another good story line. Then there's the "straight talk." And — sorry, there's no way around this — that whole "maverick" business. Once a public figure's image is established, it can be tough to change. Think of Al Gore, forever the Internet-inventing résumé padder. Or John Kerry, forever the chardonnay-sipping, windsurfing Brahmin who ordered a cheesesteak in Philadelphia with, ohmigod, Swiss cheese. That phenomenon hasn't been so good for Gore and Kerry, as you may have noticed. But it has paid big dividends for McCain. But the John McCain running in 2008 is a far cry from the one who ran in 2000. A lot less mavericky. The old — sorry — McCain back then was against George W. Bush's tax cuts. The current McCain embraces them. McCain was 100 percent against torture. Then he voted against legislation that would have banned the CIA from waterboarding. McCain once called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance." He later withdrew the remark and spoke at Falwell's Liberty University. Then there's the whole business about Hamas looking forward to an Barack Obama presidency. This is an odd gambit indeed for a candidate who insists the campaign should be played out on the high road.
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4514