Media affix "maverick" label to Palin as well

In reporting on Sen. John McCain's decision to name Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, several media outlets have taken the "maverick" label the media have frequently and uncritically applied to McCain and affixed it to Palin as well. For example, in an August 29 Associated Press article, writers Liz Sidoti and Beth Fouhy reported, "Republican John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate today, a stunning selection of a fellow maverick designed to get an edge in the increasingly competitive White House race."

Other media outlets adopting the maverick frame to Palin include:

• Referring to Palin during the August 29 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews claimed, "I think she is a maverick," and added, "[T]he several years she's been in public life has been that of a maverick, someone taking on the good ol' boys. ... Every time one party runs the show, it gets corrupt, and she was challenging it."

• Discussing the choice during the August 29 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Kevin Corke said of McCain: "I'm thinking he likes this idea that she's also a bit of a maverick."

• During the August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer uncritically asserted, "Republicans call her a uniter and a tough maverick."

• During the August 29 edition of Fox News' Your World, host Neil Cavuto asserted, "First, the maverick. He picks a maverick."

• An August 29 Detroit Free Press article was headlined "McCain chooses maverick Alaska governor to be his vice president."

• In an August 29 post on the washingtonpost.com blog The Fix, staff writer Chris Cillizza claimed, "In choosing Palin, McCain also doubles down on the maverick argument; Palin is the face of reform in the Republican party nationally and is clearly not of Washington -- a key element of her biography given how negative voter sentiment toward the nation's capital is currently."

From the August 29 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

HARRIS: Look, she went to went to the capital, she went to Juneau and she upset whole lot of people, because she flipped over that gravy train, apple cart that had been stuffing the pockets of the status quo in Alaska for years and years. She put an end to all that. She upset a lot of politicians in Juneau, and this is now -- you know, they're now going after her.

STEVE McMAHON (Democratic strategist): But Todd, Todd.

MATTHEWS: I like a lot -- I think she is a maverick. I --

McMAHON: That's not what she's being investigated for.

MATTHEWS: Not in this case, but you're narrowing it down to the one concern, and I share that it is a concern. But her record in public office -- the several years, not the many years -- but the several years she's been in public life has been that of a maverick, someone taking on the good ol' boys, the build-- the corrupt syst-- I'm sure -- every time one party runs the show, it gets corrupt, and she was challenging it.

HARRIS: Look, this is a year where the status quo in Washington -- Congress has a 9 percent approval rating. The president's approval rating is in the mid- to high 20s. The public wants mavericks. They want people who are coming from outside of Washington, in terms of their values, and she certainly brings that to the ticket.

From the 3 p.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on August 29:

CORKE: You've got to say she appeals to a strong number of women supporters, Clinton supporters, especially women. And I'm thinking he likes this idea that she's also a bit of a maverick, guys. I mean, she -- here's --

REV. JOE WATKINS (MSNBC political analyst and Republican strategist): That's right. Absolutely.

CORKE: -- somebody who's a hockey mom. She's a little, maybe, outside of the Washington, Beltway reputation, perhaps. But look, she's also somebody who's taken on the bad guys, the -- I don't want to say they're unethical, some people would say -- some of the unethical leaders in her own state. And so I think that probably helps her. Joe, what do you think?

From the August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: They're raising the balloons here in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center in preparation for John McCain and his new running mate, Sarah Palin. Republicans call her a uniter and a tough maverick. Now that John McCain has picked the Alaska governor, many people want to know more about her. She's the first female ever chosen for a Republican presidential ticket. She's serving her first term as the first-ever female governor of Alaska. And at the age of 44, Palin is actually younger than two of John McCain's children.

From the August 29 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:

CAVUTO: First, the maverick. He picks a maverick. Get this: She's pro-drilling, but demands oil companies share more of their dough. A Republican governor, but not afraid to take on her state's Republican senator over a bridge to nowhere. Her hubby's lifetime union; she's lifetime NRA, pro-life, anti-waste, full-time thorn in the side to the establishment.

Now, does that ring a bell? Something tells me this newly announced ticket rang more than a few today.