I think you're the greatest.  But, please don't use the McCain frame.  All of us have got to stop doing this.  The media has fed us a line.  He never was a Maverick. See the 72-item list on thecarpetbaggerreport.com  

That's where this is from. :)

if we buy this phony line...And your finding this at the DNC is just more reason to shake our heads.  The list of McCain double talk (for Moderate democrats' and independents' benefit) is now 72 items long.  Do check it out at http://www.thecarpetbaggerrepo...

If we buy this stuff, we have only ourselves to blame.

They just blasted it out to however large their mailing list is.

McCain isn't a moderate, though he flirted briefly with the notion in 2001-2.  The reason was, that following the bashing he took at the hands of Bush-Rove in 2000, he needed a political "home."  Third parties weren't viable, so he cozied up to Democrats, including Joe Lieberman, who later left the Democratic Party, but continues to caucus with it. McCain as "moderate" is easy to dispense with if one looks at ratings and voting record.

•The Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal group, rated John McCain a 9 % lifetime average.  
*During the period that McCain flirted with moderate positions, he was actually still conservative.
•Until 2000, John McCain had one of the most Conservative voting records in the Senate.  
•Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting  (fair.org) found, when researching the McCain record, in the 107th Congress (2001-02) McCain was the sixth most liberal Republican (but still behind every single Democrat) in "liberal" voting.  But that was in a post-Gingrich revolution Congress.  So, 6th most "liberal" republican Senator doesn't mean much in terms of his being progressive.  But there is more...
•In the very next session, the 108th, he was the fourth most conservative.
•In 109th, he was the second most conservative.
•In the 110th, he was the eighth most conservative.
Whatever McCain's reasons for his one-to-two-year variation from his lifetime conservative posture, he has a consistently very conservative voting record.  He is not a moderate. Spread the word!  And, please stop using the McCain/GOP/media frame.  Remember, even McCain calls them "his base."

in quotes?  Does that help? :)

Or, "never-really-was-a-Maverick" And as for McCain's media "base," we need to vigorously push back on this issue. It's all McCain spin and frame all the time. The whole media talks of him as if they've been trained by his spinners.