McCain is most definitely a "maverick," courtesy of the Keating and Hensley families;

[blondeatlast]

isn't it nice they were willing to share?

I've posted this so much as a reply to so many OPs I thought it was time to educate you all about this--this is an accepted definition in the cattle-ranching US (including Crawford, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona); I heard it used many times growing up in a cattle ranching town in Montana:

mav·er·ick (mvr-k, mvrk)
n.
1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.

From the Free Online dictionary:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/maverick

[hendo]

1. huh?

I could have sworn this was a maverick

"Maverick is a person with independence of thought or action, a non-conformist; or, in American use, a stray animal without an owner's mark on it. As a verb, it means to seize something without holding a lawful claim to it."

[blondeatlast]

2. Take it up with the dictionary--or I'll gladly introduce you to some ranchers I know... nt