McCain - not quite the Maverick that he claims

thanks for your thoughtful response. The CQpolitics.com website's table shows the figures over the entire Bush presidency, upto the August 2008 recess. You are right to point out that Obama, member since 2005, has a high Party Unity (PU) rating, alongside 19 other Dem Senators who all have a PU rating of 95% or more - this might indicate there is a higher level of Dem Senator congressional unity or it might indicate that he toes the Party line - then again, when a party is in opposition, it is easier to stay united, particularly if you have been out of power (in terms of the white house) for a long time. I also believe that McCain was a genuine Maverick back in the late 1990s/ early 2000s. Indeed, had he been the Republican nominee back in 2000, I would have preferre him to Al Gore. However, my concern is that over the last few years he has changed: in order to secure the Republican nomination, he has had to trim his beliefs so fit in more with his colleagues and his party. And the figures, particularly in relation to his support for President Bush, seem to bear this out. Looking at the figures, one can say that he has shown - as you say - some maverick tendencies at the lower end of the scale in relation to his voting record regarding supporting the Republican congressional senate line. However, when it comes to his support for President Bush, one simply cannot argue this in view of his voting record, with a 90% presidential support rating, he comes right in the middle in terms of loyalty to President Bush as far as Republican senators go. It would be fair to say, in view of McCain's Presidential Support (PS) figures over the last 7.5 years, that he has loyally supported President Bush alongside the vast majority of the Republican senators. Hence why I suspect Democrats, with some justification, will use the above to portray McCain as Bush III or McBush. McCain may not be exactly the same as Bush, but in view of his voting record and his 90% support for Bush in particular over the last 8 years, he is likely to pursue similar policies to those of the last 8 years across the board should he make it too the White House. He may for instance have different policies in relation to the environment, though now with the appointment of Palin one has to seriously question whether he will affect change to Bush's policies in this area. But in terms of foreign and economic policy (which are the two main planks upon which this election will be decided), I have difficulty seeing any major difference to what Bush has done over the last 7.5 years.