John McCain has obviously tried to come across as a maverick. With the public so disappointed with Bush and his Republican cronies, it shouldn't be too surprising that he wants to try and convince the Independent voters that he's something different. He's therefore put out an ad which shows some Democrats praising him for showing some independence back in the good ole days. As Howard Dean pointed out in a statement released this afternoon, however, that isn't the case anymore.
"John McCain a maverick? The John McCain of 2000 wouldn't even consider voting for the John McCain of 2008. The American people are learning that the John McCain of 2008 represents more of the same failed policies we've gotten from George Bush for the past eight years. Senator McCain is clearly in the tank for Exxon and big oil, for keeping our troops stuck in Iraq for decades to come, and for an economic policy that puts tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations above relief for hardworking families. John McCain has changed: he's taken the low road, leveling false, negative and misleading attacks against Barack Obama. John McCain is no more a maverick within the Republican Party than Dick Cheney is. He's just more of the same."I think the important thing here is not the fact that McCain simply represents more of the same. It's the fact that he appears to have drastically changed his position on important issues just so that he can secure the Republican nomination. I think we can all agree that we are going to disagree on certain issues, even with members of our own political party. It's when you start abandoning your core values just to secure a party's nomination that really creates some issues.
As this election goes on, I believe Howard Dean is onto something -- one of Obama's big tasks is to point out how this new John McCain simply isn't the John McCain that we saw prior to 2000.