MAVERICK McCAIN: He Gambled on Sarah Palin and Lost Out ...and the rest is history!

He sometimes tried to deny it, for example in 2010 telling the reporter David Margolick: “I never considered myself a maverick. I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities.”

Geez that sure sounds just like what almost every Arizona politico is saying these days

In 2008, McCain was the Republican nominee to succeed George W Bush. He faced Barack Obama, an inexperienced senator from Illinois but a political meteor. Peters reports that in August, with election day three months off, needing a boost, McCain spoke to advisers at his ranch in Arizona.

He had narrowed his choice of running mate to three. There was Palin, governor of Alaska, a hard-right populist and political neophyte. There were two experienced moderates, Tim Pawlenty, then governor of Minnesota, and Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts...

Romney was the Republican nominee in 2012, losing to Obama. Trump followed in 2016, blowing the party establishment out of the water with a campaign of anger, controversy and hatred then beating Hillary Clinton in the general election.

‘Let’s do it’: John McCain knew Palin VP pick was a huge gamble, new book says

Martin Pengelly

the Guardian |

Reporter says 2008 Republican nominee mimed rolling dice and said ‘Fuck it’ before picking hard-right Trump precursor.

READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/07/lets-do-it-john-mccain-palin-gamble-book-insurgency-republicans-trump

(John McCain with Sarah Palin. McCain died in 2018 but remains a figurehead of sorts for the few Republicans who defy Trump. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters)