On Monday, Democracy Now ran an interview with author Matt Welch challenging the idea that Republican Senator John McCain is a "maverick." McCain who portrays himself--and is portrayed by the media--as a Washington "outsider," has consistently been seen as a "different" kind of Republican despite the fact that when one looks at his record, he is clearly a part of the Republican establishment. Welch, who recently wrote a book titled McCain: Myth of a Maverick, asserts:

"...you have to peel back all of these incredible layers of mythology that have happened- been erected around him by a largely adoring press. He is probably the most adored Republican by the media of the last 25 years, if not 30 or 40. It is astonishing how much he is liked. He has been given endorsements in something like 90% of the top newspapers in the country that have endorsed Republicans in the primaries. So, I mean, just the idea that he is a big man of the people, totally mythological. He is very much an elitist in stead. The idea that he is some kind of a preternatural straight talker, this is not true. If you look at all at his record and including his daily comportment on the campaign trail, just last week, he was basically sliming Mitt Romney, who you know, has plenty of reasons to be slimed, as being some sort of cut and run anti-surge candidate. Anyone who looked into that realized that is a pretty scurrilous charge."

In the interview, Welch points out that McCain comes from a well-connected family, that his aggressively militarist policies are similar to what Bush has been doing, and supports a large defense budget--all of which are traditionally Republican positions. Read the Interview