McCain the maverick?

By: Barri Worth

Word count: 790

This is not the year of the Republicans. If a Republican is to win this election, it must be someone who does not appear to be a typical Republican. Enter John McCain?

Sen. John McCain is not the maverick that he claims to be. A man who has been widely recognized in national politics as a deviation from the hard right is about to have the reality of his conservative side revealed to his moderate supporters as he gears up for the general election.

The Republican favorite has withstood vehement attacks from his conservative counterparts in two national primaries now, most recently appearing ideologically to the left of Romney, Huckabee and Thompson. Next to them, McCain was portrayed as the moderate candidate - a helpful approach among Republicans tired of Bush.

But now that he has emerged as the nominee, McCain will have to withstand attacks from the Democrats to win the election. Can he do it?

In an election year when even Republicans want to move away from Bush policies, it is unlikely.

He's more right-wing than people realize, because he has defended himself from attacks from the Right. But as soon as he starts getting attacked from the Left, moderates will realize just how right-wing John McCain really is. And in an era of strong disapproval of our conservative government, that is not a winning stance.

A recent New York Times/CBS News poll reported that 81 percent of Americans believe that "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," which is up from 69 percent just a year ago. This startling statistic suggests that the overwhelming majority of Americans are, indeed, ready for change.

But Sen. McCain does not represent that change. Instead, he would carry the same torch that has us on the wrong track.

A man who has staked his reputation on his opposition to torture voted against a bill that would have banned the torture technique of waterboarding in February of this year. According to the National Journal, Sen. Reid considered Sen. McCain a swing vote, given his stance on torture. Yet, he did not fulfill his potential to represent a moderate position on this issue, instead returning to the conservative comfort zone when he voted against the measure.

Sen. McCain also claims to take a moderate position on global warming. An October New York Times article portrayed him as being among the most moderate of the Republican candidates because he acknowledged the problem.

If elected, McCain vowed to have the United States join the Kyoto Protocol on the condition that India and China join, as well. That was a safe proposal for a Republican, seeing as how "most experts agree that condition is unlikely to be met," according to the New York Times. In a Republican primary, McCain came out looking good because he simply acknowledged global warming. But now, when the Democrats expose that his proposal was never one that really had a chance of coming to fruition, voters will see that the McCain stance on climate change is essentially the Bush stance on climate change.

Comprehensive immigration reform was yet another area in which Sen. McCain appeared moderate. Yet, he has abandoned his own legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants already here to remain in the United States by providing a path to citizenship. This is not the move of a moderate Republican.

This could be the downfall of a Republican running for President in a country that is tired of the status quo Republican policies.

The historic momentum that the Democrats have right now is rendering them virtually unstoppable. While Clinton and Obama are both offering the country a fresh start, McCain seems trite and boring in comparison. And as they continue to duke it out for the Democratic nomination, they are stealing the political spotlight from the candidate with the least pizzazz.

Still, McCain could benefit from the turmoil that the Democratic Party is experiencing and prevail. His only path to victory may be if a Democratic candidate gets nominated without the full support of the Democratic Party.

My mom has said that if Obama gets the Democratic nomination, she will vote for McCain. Other Democrats who strongly dislike Clinton have said that they would throw their votes behind McCain before casting a vote for Clinton, should she win the nomination. If the Democrats remain torn for too long, they may give McCain a real edge with Decline to State voters.

If you're a conservative Republican, rest easy, because McCain is not the moderate he might have initially appeared to be. And if you're a Democrat, you too can rest easy, because it is not McCain that is promising the change that voters are so deeply craving now.