The answer to your question “was he ever a maverick” is NO.
Plus the fact that his major life trauma was not the fact that his incompetent flying got him shot down and taken prisoner; it was his loss to Bush in the 2000 primary election.
After his loss to Bush; what little sanity and loyalty to country and party still remained in him, was completely destroyed by his over inflated ego.
He truly believed that he was “THE ONE”; when his own party rejected him, it completely destroyed what ever sanity he had left.
He has spent the past 13 to 14 years trying desperately to destroy the thing he believes to be responsible for that loss; the thing he professes to love and belong to, the true conservatives in what is left of the Republican Party.
My brother is a ultra liberal unfortunately. He used to say he loved McCain, but the moment he actually got the nod , he no longer liked him..
It`s all phony support McCain had from the left (we all knew that) But it seems McCain does not know the love he gets from the left is NOT genuine
He probably is not very bright