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  How is John McCain's brain functioning?
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ContributorHomegrown Democrat 
Last EditedHomegrown Democrat  Dec 21, 2010 05:32pm
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CategoryCommentary
AuthorEllen Ratner
News DateMonday, December 20, 2010 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionI used to think John McCain was the maverick that he advertised himself to be. He bucked the system, believed in campaign finance reform and reached across the aisle to folks on the left side of the Democratic Party, such as Sen. Russ Feingold. He wanted to be president, and way back in 2000 he rode through New Hampshire saying things that candidate George Bush would never say. His was an upstart campaign, and plenty of the "liberal" press loved to follow him because he was willing to say what traditional candidates were not going to say for fear of alienating their base.

He began the 2008 campaign with some real momentum before he became so enamored with the idea of becoming president that he lost his soul. Hiring the brilliant and talented Mark Zandi to be his economic adviser was a great move. Zandi thought out of the box. I was at a conference with all of the major candidates' economic advisers, and Zandi was far and away the most competent in the group. Zandi joined the McCain team as a registered Democrat. Recently he received a ton of ink because he advocated a larger stimulus program and crunched the numbers to show that money spent on food stamps actually had a stimulating effect on the economy. John McCain, who has made clear that he is "not a maverick," dismissed the advice of his former adviser, Mark Zandi, by saying that he had a "lot of former advisers."

On the Internet now are the clips of John McCain saying that he is a maverick, despite his recent protestations that he never was one. It is symptomatic of how is brain is working, or more specifically, not working. On Saturday, as he made speeches on "don't ask, don't tell" and the START treaty, one press person I sat beside asked, "Does he have any brain cells left?"
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