'Maverick' McCain is a myth-When it matters the most, he seldom bucks his own party

In tight Senate votes, McCain not a maverick
When it matters the most, he seldom bucks his own party

Ronald J. Hansen
The Arizona Republic
May. 7, 2008 12:00 AM


Over the years, Sen. John McCain has publicly condemned Republican Party leaders and occasionally voted against the GOP on selected issues.

But an Arizona Republic analysis of his Senate votes on the most divided issues in the past decade shows that McCain almost never thwarted his party's objectives.

The presumptive Republican nominee arguably cast the decisive vote 14 times since 1999 to ensure Republicans got their way, and he had five other close cases where his vote may have made a difference, Senate records show. By comparison, McCain effectively handed Democrats a win on roll-call votes four times in the same period. On one of those occasions, Republicans could still have won if Vice President Dick Cheney had cast a tie-breaking vote.

The numbers are based on a review of Senate roll-call votes since 1999 that ended in a tie or were settled by one vote. The closest votes in that period included momentous, partisan-charged legislation, such as President Bush's tax cuts. More often, they were procedural votes on deal-breaking amendments to bills that would otherwise pass.

They partly reflect how rarely Senate votes come down to a single person, even though the chamber has been narrowly divided on party lines most of the past decade. But the votes also suggest that when McCain broke from Republicans, others often joined him, keeping the votes from being so close.

more...

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0507mccainvotes0507.html

In 1990, McCain was one of the deciding votes in helping then-President George H.W. Bush sustain a veto against the relatively benign Civil Rights Act of 1990.

In doing so, the senator found himself at odds with majorities in both chambers of Congress, most senior African Americans within the Bush administration, and the Republican-led U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He also helped Bush became the first president ever to successfully veto a civil rights measure -- Andrew Johnson in 1866 and Ronald Reagan in 1988 both had vetoes overridden.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/mccains-other-controversi_n_96193.html

You must make this its own thread!

He's blown his top at them far too often. For those who want to know the real Mccain, I suggest reading the post 1996 Arizona Republic and any relevant issue of the Phoenix New Times (the paper was founded here in Phoenix/Tempe).

Not to mention that the AZ Republic hates to back a loser, so they are ikely to NOT promote Mccain--and believe it or not, the AZ Rep's ed page is LOCALLY slightly to the left (the syndications outweigh that, though).

Damn, I just may have to renew my scrip; cancelled after the most incredibly mind-twisting endorsement of W (He's bad, Kerry's much better, but vote for W anyway is what it came down to).

This could get very fun...

Looks like it's going to take bloggers and brave columnists like Arianna Huffington and David Brock/Sam Waldman to bring the "Real John McCain" to the fore. We cannot count on the M$M to do it's job.