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Senator John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin pride themselves on being so-called “mavericks.” Laying aside for a moment the fact that both have been almost slavish to the positions and conventions of their party for the majority of their political careers, it might be useful to consider whether or not a maverick would actually be desireable as a leader.
According to Merriam-Webster, a maverick is: “1. an unbranded range animal ; especially : a motherless calf,” or “2. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.” As we are dealing with people instead of cattle, it should be fairly obvious that it is the second definition that applies. Hence Senator McCain and Governor Palin are attempting to package themselves as independent individuals who do not go along with a group or a party. In essence, they are trying to portray themselves as courageous loners who go their own way without concern for the conventional wisdom. This is an American archetype, particularly in the West, the idea of the “lone gunslinger” who comes into town without respect for the ways or conventions of the city, a man who follows no code but his own, and makes a difference through his unwillingness to compromise his code for the usually corrupt circumstances with which he finds himself surrounded.
While Senator McCain’s entrenched position in Washington, due in no small part to his 26-year tenure in Congress, particularly his being numbered among the infamous “Keating 5,” argues against his having any resemblance to this archetype whatsoever, his desire to embrace this model as his desired method of leadership calls into question his very fitness to lead at all. The very definition of a maverick is that it is an individual who goes their own way. It is not implied anywhere in that definition that the said maverick desires, or has any intention of having anyone follow him in his chosen path. Indeed, the very idea of “maverickdom” is that one is neither a leader nor a follower, but is responsible solely to one’s self and the code that one has adopted to guide one’s life by. A maverick is by definition a loner, not a leader.
Unlike a maverick, a leader seeks obligation. A leader is obligated to those whom they choose to lead. They do not choose their own path, but the path that would be most beneficial to the group, regardless of the leader’s personal interest in heading in that direction. Indeed, a leader has to accept that the people do not naturally follow them, but must be able to convince, cajole and occasionally coerce those over whom they hold stewardship that the path which they are taking is advantageous for the group to follow. They cannot assume, as a maverick might, that the group will merely meekly follow along on whatever path he chooses as it is self-evident that he is right. Furthermore, a leader must be steady, and exude a sense of steadiness even when changing direction. Those who lead cannot seem capricious or erratic, for in doing so they weaken the trust of the group in both their judgment and their concern for the group’s well being. A maverick, on the other hand, is accustomed to taking whatever path strikes his fancy and following it only so long as it suits his purposes. He is free to be as unsteady or erratic as he likes, for he answers to no one but himself and therefore has no qualms about what others may think of him, for better or worse.
Unfortunately for Senator McCain, he seems to have chosen the maverick as his leadership model. His constant shifting of positions, his unwillingness to follow, let alone expound on, a coherent administrative vision for his administration has lead many to question his fitness for leadership. Such incoherence has been brought into stark relief during the past several weeks as the Senator has bounced from one theatrical stunt to another without clearly outlining whether he has any real plan to get us out of this mess other than further privatization, sacking the head of the SEC, (Which the President has no power to do) or more corporate tax cuts.
This is not to say that there is anything inherently wrong with those who display the “maverick” disposition. Society needs men and women who cut against the very grain of conformity and go their own way. In the Legislature, mavericks are often those who serve as the conscience of their parties, like Congressman Kucinich among the Democrats. These men go their own way regardless of whether anyone follows them or not. Nevertheless, if one is called upon to lead a nation, one must have the temperament to lead, and not merely walk in front. Aimless wandering is well and good for the free spirit or the individualist, but the head of a government that serves more than 300 million people with the largest nuclear arsenal on earth is expected to know where they are going.
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