Fine. I admit it. John McCain really is a maverick.

Jesse over at Pandagon always has an interesting way of interpreting the day’s political events. And why should McCain’s latest attacks on Obama be any different?

Today Jesse points out that while most campaigns try to turn their opponent’s strengths into weaknesses and their own weaknesses into strengths, John McCain’s campaign is now trying to take one of their own weakness and turn it into an Obama weakness. Specifically “a healthy penchant for embracing extremists without remorse.”

“It could theoretically work”, he points out. “But it seems to be done under the presumption that the Obama campaign is going to think that instead of punching, McCain is just reaching for something behind Obama’s head with his fist.”

After I stopped laughing about the reaching/fist part, I started thinking: this isn’t the first time the McCain campaign has broken these rules. As a matter of fact, John McCain’s campaign seems to do everything BUT follow these rules. And damned if that isn’t the most Maverick-like thing I’ve ever seen from any campaign ever.

In addition to the weakness-to-weakness strategy he seems to be employing now, he’s also recently tried to use strength-to-strength by stealing Obama’s message of Change.

Only a real maverick like John McCain would try to convince Americans that an old, rich, white, conservative guy could represent “Change” more than a young progressive with parents from different races and cultures.

Maverick indeed. But that really is small change compared to the crazy Maverick move McCain made right before the convention.

You want to talk about campaign rule breaking?

John McCain took his biggest strength and threw it right out the window. Defenestrated the only chance he had to actually win the election. Now THAT is some seriously Mavericky shit.

Of course I’m talking about his experience: 20+ years of serious, national experience as a US Senator. Without a doubt John McCain’s best selling point. I’m certain he could have used his experience to sell himself as the trusted and stable choice to lead the country through these uncertain economic times.

But instead he decided to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate. And when John started defending her “experience” as sufficient for the Presidency he basically neutralized his own strength as well as his opponents perceived weakness. Double whammy. Double Maverick.

Say what you want about John McCain being an angry, out-of-touch tool (seriously, you can say it. it’s all true.). This guy knows how to break a rule.