The Maverick Myth

With only a few days left til the election; I thought it would be appropriate to look back on the McCain campaign and how much of it lived up to the " Maverick" ideal.

John McCain by winning the Republican nomination had the opportunity to transform that party to represent the ideals that he championed during the 2000 election. Instead of taking the risk of being a visionary he simply sank into the mire of fear, anger, xenophobia and racism that has become a hallmark of the Republicans for the past 20 years.

A real Maverick would've selected a TRUE candidate for the Vice- Presidency instead of a gimmick in an attractive package named Sarah Palin. The Pseudo-Maverick which is John McCain failed to lead and gave into the "religious right' of the GOP and chose someone that is truly unfit for leadership and certaintly incapable of being POTUS.

The "mythical" John McCain we have heard so much about would've never took on the same team of handlers who smeared him in South Carolina along racial lines alleging he had an illegitimate Black child. The real McCain though didn't hesitate to take them on as a means to win at any cost.

The great statesman that FOX and other conservative outlets have described McCain as should never be in the presence of those calling for the " Killing" of a political rival at one of his rallies without speaking out in protest. But as the pattern has been made clear, the REAL McCain lives down to expectations and embraced the attack on Obama as an uppity, unpatriotic, muslim until the wheels fell off and his poll numbers dropped.

In closing, I think it is pretty clear that John McCain isn't and never truly was a Maverick. What we have in McCain is a man who somehow has been mythologized as a great leader and hero when the reality of his life suggests anything but.

McCain is someone who personifies the term, "Failing upward". A mediocre and reckless pilot who somehow got to keep his wings while endangering others. A poor student who by family connections got accepted to and graduated from some of the most prestigious military institutions in the world. Lastly, a man who has shown no true desire to learn, inspire or lead beyond his own personal ambitions has had a political career marked by success for almost 3 decades.

Failing upward has been a given in the life of John McCain, that is until now!

When McCain fails to win the election on November 4, it will be the first time in his life where he won't be able to gain success from failure. It will be a first that I will thoroughly enjoy experiencing with the Maverick this Tuesday.