what a ridiculous premise

Does Palin's maverick label still stick?
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She was never a "maverick" of any kind - she simply called herself that and some people believed the hype since they didn't know anything about her.
Once we learned about her, it was obviously that she is as much of a "business as usual" repug as Dick Cheney - secretive, prone to cronyism, vindictive, corrupt, etc etc.
McCain & Palin will simply extend the last 8 years - that's a fact. There is no "maverick-ness" with those two.