Reply #10: But he's not a "maverick", he's a sell out

[ihavenobias]

I'm guessing you skipped the article written by Cenk Uygur (who voted for McCain in 2000 and even preferred him to Gore *at the time*)?

If so, read it now: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9000.html

The good, upstanding Maverick you describe is long gone, lost back in 2000. The shell of what Remains is McCain 2008.

I get that people make public compromises in order to get elected, but you can't dismiss this issue when it comes to McCain for 2 reasons.

1)-McCain is the "Maverick" according to the mainstream media. His ability to pander should (in theory) be much lower than a traditional candidate, or at some point he must lose his "Maverick" label. Which brings me to my second point.

2)-It's one thing to pander to the religious right after being so outspoken against them previously. But it's quite another to be strongly opposed to tax cuts for the rich during a time of war (his words basically) and vote against them twice only to want to make them PERMANENT now. And if that doesn't bother you (it should), the trump card in this argument is that McCain was strongly opposed to torture (including water boarding).

This *was* a core principle for a former POW who was himself tortured. He was outspoken on this, that torture was wrong, not to mention ineffective. Yet as the article in question points out, he broke this strong principle with his vote on water boarding recently, in a truly pathetic and sad attempt to win over the horrible conservative base.

It's one thing to be flexible to get elected. But this guy has basically become Gumby at this point WRT his principles. And for that reason, I have lost a ton of respect for the man, as well as for anyone supporting him.