John McCain is supposed to be a “maverick” because he takes on the right wing of his party from time to time. Supposedly, he breaks from party doctrine to fight for what he thinks is right.  In fact, this is demonstrably false.

Let’s look at three issues on which McCain is considered to be something of a “maverick”:

• Immigration: Once upon a time, John McCain was exactly right on immigration reform. He proposed fixing the current broken system, and he took some heat for it. But then he had to run for President, so he flip-flopped. Now he wouldn’t even vote for his own bill.
• Environment: Conventional wisdom is that John McCain bucks his party on environmental issues, especially climate change. While it’s true that he’s not as useless on the issue as most Republicans, the truth is that he’s all talk and no action. And it’s not even clear that he even understands what he’s talking about.
• Torture: Because of his awful experiences in the Hanoi Hilton, McCain has often talked about prohibiting the use of torture by U.S. personnel. But there’s a difference between talk and action, and John McCain has simply not lived up to his word when it comes to torture. At every turn, he has chosen to appease the pro-torture wing of the party, rather than doing the right thing.

 

When you examine McCain’s record, you get a clearer picture of who he is. I don’t think he secretly holds to a very conservative political philosophy – I think he has no political philosophy. John McCain doesn’t have any guiding principles – throughout his entire career, he’s been all over the map. He was a pretty bland Republican until he decided to run for President in 2000, when he made himself over as some kind of centrist maverick. Then in 2008 he ran in the primaries as a Reagan conservative – who knows what he’s supposed to be now?

I think McCain believes vaguely in some kind of “national honor” philosophy – probably why the only consistent position he’s held throughout his career has been his adherence to extreme neoconservative foreign policy. But other than that, I think McCain’s overriding concern is John McCain. It’s pretty clear that many of his decisions are calculated to appeal to his base – the press. He’s primarily concerned with taking positions that will further his ambitions and maximize his appeal.