John McCain: “I never considered myself a maverick”

When Senator John McCain was the Republican Presidential nominee in 2008, he traded on his reputation as a “maverick,” even releasing an ad that touted him as “the original maverick.” But now the Senator tells Newsweek that "I never considered myself a maverick." Instead, he says he wants to be seen as "a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." McCain is in a tough primary battle against a more conservative challenger, and is trying to tout his conservative credentials at the expense of his former tendency to buck his party, which got him the maverick label in the first place. But apparently no one told his former running mate Sarah Palin, who recently encouraged a rally audience to send “McCain the maverick” back to Washington.

Newsweek