Editor's Note: On her blog, Jen has commented on this cartoon, as follows:

This Week's Strip: "The Maverick Senator"
As you may have inferred, this cartoon is about John McCain. The dude is a real salesman; he's managed to convince the punditry he's a "moderate" while maintaining a very consistent, hard-right voting record. According to one academic study, he has the third most right-wing voting record in Congress, and he gets an 83% overall rating from the American Conservative Union. Not very moderate, especially given the rightward shift of the so-called "center" in American politics.

And please. The man is hardly a font of "straight talk." Here's McCain on the Military Commissions Act:
I can assure you I would never agree to anything that I believe could allow torture. I promise you that.
Straight Talk Express, comin' atcha!

My money is on McCain to be the GOP's 2008 nominee. I think he'll be tough to beat, especially if the Dem insiders make Hillary the nominee. What freakin' solar system are these buttbrains from? Her base can't stand her pandering, and we all know how Joe Wingnut feels. Now that Mark Warner has dropped out, I'll have to pin my hopes on Edwards... or Obama, maybe.

While we're on the subject of "Mavericks" a search of the Loper website yields the following uses of the epithet:

Virgil Goode and Russ Potts tie with five. Close behind is Sen. McCain, with four, no one has three, Russ Feingold has two, and there are quite a few with a single such mention, including Doug Wilder, Kinky Friedman and Lyndon LaRouche.