Word: mavericks
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...Maverick in Full The U.S. Senate was split down the middle between Democrats and Republicans when Bush took office in January 2001. The Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, knew that all he needed to take control of the chamber was the defection of one Republican. Daschle had three targets, all of whom were finding themselves increasingly alienated from and isolated within the G.O.P.: Jim Jeffords of Vermont, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and John McCain of Arizona...
...White House in 2000 that broadened McCain's appeal - and opened his eyes to his own potential clout. He ran as the candidate of reform - the anti-Establishment maverick - and while he lost, in the process he became the most popular politician in America. "That campaign changed him," says John Weaver, who was McCain's chief political adviser for a decade, until last summer when he left in a staff shake-up. "He became a rock star. On the trail he discovered all these new issues. How could he go back to the Senate and not talk about the need...
...Asked to explain, they refer to the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform law (which they thought, incorrectly as it turns out, would bite Republicans more than Democrats), or his opposition (since rescinded) to the Bush tax cuts, or what they regard as his tiresome and preening routine as a maverick. They resent his mutual love affair with the press (which he jokingly refers to as "my base"). They remember a lot of foolish talk a while back about how McCain might switch parties and become a Democrat. And yet almost all of these McCain haters will vote...
...Just as important, in light of the Democrats' portrayal of McCain as a continuation of the unpopular Bush Administration, Crist is working to present the Senator as a truly moderate Republican. Given McCain's history as a straight-talking G.O.P. maverick, that shouldn't be hard. But issues like offshore drilling have slowed his momentum in the Sunshine State - a new Quinnipiac University poll has Obama edging ahead of McCain in Florida for the first time - making it especially crucial that he win over not only the state's independents but potential crossover Democrats, including still angry Hillary Clinton supporters...
...fair, Obama is not alone in his calculated repositioning. McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee, has been going through a similar process, struggling to reclaim his maverick mantle after he spent much of the primaries proving his conservative credentials by flip-flopping his positions on tax cuts and immigration...