Link: slacktivist: Rebel without a map
On McCain's maverickiness "His opposition to his own party thus seemed less about the substance of each case than about his own willingness, or eagerness, to take a maverick stance. This was sadly demonstrated in each of the instances mentioned here by McCain's eventual willingness to get back in line, ultimately supporting the very positions on torture, stem-cell research and (less absolutely) climate change that he had previously opposed. Having re-established his maverick credentials in each case, his agenda was complete and he was willing to yield the substance and the principle at stake on each of those issues."