John McCain's and Sarah Palin's claims that they are mavericks is just another of their misconceptions about who they are. A maverick is an unbranded wild range animal that belongs to anyone who brands it. They accepted the Bush Brand a long time ago, when they first became Republicans. They carry the Bush Brand, the Big B, metaphorically, on their rumps, but the Big B is branded permanently on their souls. They belong to George Bush, hide and hair, heart and mind, bones and sinew, body and soul.
That's why George Bush has become so content and complacent lately. He knows that he's got the two best representatives of his Republican ideology running for president, with a very good chance of winning, and continuing his Republican ideology driven policies.
McCain and Palin are under the delusion that they are running the campaign. But, go to the Republican National Committee website, and look at who is at the top of the page of pictures showing who are the leaders of the Republican Party: George Bush and Dick Cheney. The Chairman, Mike Duncan, is appointed by the president, George Bush. The president, George Bush, is the head of the Republican Party. The committee isn't going to do anything without the approval of George Bush, the best representative of Republican values, ever.
McCain and Palin are pretending to run from the unpopular George Bush, just as you would expect a maverick to run from it's owner who has branded it. They may even think that that's what they're doing, but, they carry the brand of George Bush, if not actually on their rumps, then actually on their souls. They are not mavericks. They belong to George Bush. They are the best representatives of George Bush Republicanism that Bush could have picked.
Does anyone really think that George Bush isn't still in charge of everything Republican? To the Republican base, the ones who control by consensus what the Republican Party is and what it is to do, George Bush is the most admired, the best Republican, the most admired, best President because he's a Republican, of all presidents in history.
George Bush wasn't able to completely convert the United States to a hard-right, conservative Republican nation with the consequent government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich, the nullifying of the Constitution and the laws of the land, and the running of the country, instead, by royal decrees called signing statements. There are still a few hold-outs, judges, a few insignificant members of Congress, and the large majority of the people, who are also insignificant. But, he got real close, and he sees the rabid, fanatical McCain and Palin as just the perfect ideologues to complete the task.
Bush can then retire to Crawford, if he chooses, and doesn't decide to continue as president by signing statement if McCain and Palin loose, where he can enjoy the bounty to be shoveled to him by his faithful representatives, John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Don't think that Bush hasn't considered that he can continue being president by issuing a signing statement to that effect. After all, he's learned that he can issue just about any signing statement he wants, and not only will it be obeyed without question by his administration, there will be only token resistance to it by Congress, and barely a mention of it in the press. He's pretty sure he can get away with it, again. If that doesn't work, he can always declare a state of national emergency because the country is under terrorist attack from people carrying Obama for President signs.
