But is that a good thing? A maverick is, first and always, someone you can't count on. A maverick horse, for instance, is useless. Maybe it will pull grandma's buggy safely to church, but maybe it will kick over the traces and go for a wild and free run across the prairie.
Consider the old Maverick tv series. (A young James Garner--sigh) Here was a good-looking shifty gambler, moving from town to town, personally engaging, physically brave and randomly kind, a good man in a fight. But not for the long haul--some fine morning he'd be off to another town, another card game, another gunfight. Good for an hour's black and white entertainment, but no man for the long haul; no man to take over the duties of sheriff or make sure the schoolhouse got built. A man for the showy gesture, flirting on the edge of the law, then moving on.
Really, this is the perfect characterization for McCain, and it's not the compliment his fans think. This is not a guy for the long, boring work of government or diplomacy. This is a guy ready to draw down on the "bad guys," not a guy who recognizes that, bad guys or not, sometimes pulling out that six-gun always strapped to your hip is not the best idea.
McCain picked Palin, we're told, because he really wanted Lieberman (and really, all you need to know about his judgement is that he thinks Lieberman is a good idea) but the conservative base went ballistic. So the guy who claims to be ready to go toe-to-toe with Putin (not to mention "Islamic fundamentalism") caved when James Dobson and Ralph Reed said no and went with a textbook scary conservative who, as an extra added attraction, was a reliable "oil guy."
Being a real maverick turned out to be harder than he thought--but he's still trying.
So let's not get all charged up about Sarah Palin's family particulars--everybody has family they'd just as soon not introduce on national tv. This isn't about her--it's about McCain.