McCain: A Maverick?

Everyone knows that McCain (and Palin especially) refers to himself as a "maverick", claiming he goes against the grain in Washington, and reaches across the aisle, etc etc we've heard it all before.  However, recently there have been three relationships/actions of his that I think call this "maverick" label into question:

1)  His campaign manager Rick Davis used to work for a lobbying firm pushing for deregulation of the markets.  The lobbying firm was connected to the now-extinct mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

2)  McCain has been proven to be a special friend of the gambling industry, getting them hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks and deregulations.

3)  McCain was one of 5 senators accused of aiding Charles Keating of the Lincoln Savings and Loans failure scandal, by pushing deregulation and a looser prosecution.

How's he look now?  Not so "maverick-y", huh?  Seems to me he's just like any other long-term politician: can't keep his hands out of the cookie jar.  Now I'm not saying Obama's perfect, either - he's definitely pushed some to help out the coal industry in Illinois, for example.  But at least he's honest about who he is and what he's done.