McCain the Maverick. It was a term thrown around frequently in the 2000 presidential campaign, when McCain sought to distinguish himself from George W. Bush, and the tag line stuck. Eight years later, it’s high time to review whether or not McCain has earned the convenient reputation.

McCain has, in the past, broken from the remarkably rigid Republican Party line on issues having to do with global warming, immigration, the Christian right, Bush’s tax policy and campaign finance.

Considering that impressive list, McCain has seemingly earned the valuable label of maverick. As a liberal, I don’t think it would be out of line to call the McCain of that list a hero. But, sadly, things have changed. McCain, in an all too predictable effort to set himself up for the 2008 election, has betrayed the man he appeared to be. There is not a single part of his maverick resume that McCain still unequivocally stands for.

All things considered, though, this is perfectly normal. All presidential candidates in this day and age must sell their souls to some degree for the nomination of their party, let alone for success in November. Barack Obama switched position on public financing for his campaign. He will no longer pursue an immediate troop withdrawal in Iraq. He switched on the D.C. handgun ban. He wears the now-obligatory flag pin.

The difference between these two candidates, however, is McCain’s overt, even obnoxious betrayal of the political values he once stood for. His association with lobbyists, the same lobbyists whose power he supposedly meant to cripple with the McCain-Feingold Act (which was intended to tighten campaign finance rules), is especially frightening.

Now one of the lobbyists, who is also a member of the board of the International Republican Institute, happens to be the senior foreign relations adviser to the McCain campaign.

In early August, Russia invaded Georgia in support of Georgian separatists in South Ossetia. This act of aggression and disregard for the sovereignty of Georgia, of course, set off a global backlash against the Russians. No one, though, seemed to be as infuriated by the conflict as John McCain, calling it “The first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War.” Strong words considering that since the fall of Soviet Russia there have been genocides (Darfur), natural disasters (Indian Ocean tsunami), terrorist attacks (9/11) and unnecessary wars (Iraq).

Which brings us to the next of McCain’s recently visited foreign countries: Colombia. He and Cindy traveled there, in the midst of a busy campaign season, in July of this year. Kind of a weird stop for a man in the political fight of his life, trying to shed the mistakes of eight years of Republican executive power while facing a historic candidate.

Colombia, home to oil companies such as Occidental, represented by lobbyist Charlie Black (senior adviser to John McCain), and Chevron, represented by lobbyist Wayne Berman (McCain campaign national finance co-chair). Colombia, recent recipient of a $1.3 billion military aid package from the United States. Colombia, which has a free trade agreement in the works with the United States. Colombia, whose government McCain praises, despite widespread and well-documented accusations of corruption and state-sponsored violence.

McCain is not a maverick. Over the past eight years, he has voted with the Bush administration 95 percent of the time. He has submitted to the hard-line conservatives, the power base of the Republican party. He has capitulated to the lobbyists who help to finance and organize his campaign, as well as seemingly dictate his foreign policy priorities. If the man that earned the distinction of maverick ever existed and was not just another cheap ploy to get elected, he is long gone, warped by the machine that is presidential politics.