Mike Cochran

Every time I see it in a McCain ad, I wonder whether or not the good senator properly vetted the term before he made it the centerpiece of his campaign. Could John McCain have any idea who the Mavericks are — the real, “original Mavericks”?

A brief history lesson is in order here.

The Mavericks are a fine old Texas family with an independent and liberal streak that goes back for generations.

Samuel Maverick came to Texas in 1835, moved to San Antonio and was in the thick of the Texas Revolution. He was one of the messengers sent by Travis from the Alamo to the Constitutional Convention to plead for reinforcements. He was even a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

The popular term “maverick” is attributed to Sam Maverick’s practice of not branding his cattle, reportedly because of the brutality of the practice (but cynics believe it enabled him to claim every unbranded cow he found).

This term, over time, came to connote nonconformity as embodied in the lives of his descendants.

His grandson, Maury Maverick, carried on this Maverick spirit. He was a Democratic congressman from San Antonio during the Roosevelt administration and a member of a group of ardent advocates of Roosevelt’s New Deal called, appropriately enough, the “Mavericks.”

In Congress, Maury Maverick fought for extending the programs of the New Deal and for civil rights legislation. After leaving Congress, he was elected mayor of San Antonio with the backing of the Hispanic community, but was defeated in 1941 after he allowed communists to meet in the municipal auditorium.

His son, Maury Maverick Jr., continued the Maverick family franchise with a distinguished career in law, politics and journalism, defending the rights of the underdog. He was a Marine, saw service in the Pacific in World War II, and returned to Texas from the war ready to raise hell.

During his tenure in the state Legislature, he was vigorous in his opposition to McCarthy-era legislation. Once, when there was a proposal in Texas to mandate the death penalty for being a Communist, Maverick proposed a compromise. His tongue-in-cheek suggestion prescribed a life sentence for merely being suspected of being a Communist.

After retiring from the Legislature, Maury Maverick Jr. continued his fight for the underdog, taking on many unpopular but courageous causes.

He won a landmark case in 1954 overturning a law that prevented blacks from engaging in prize fighting against white opponents. He later won a case in the Supreme Court defending a San Antonio bookseller who had been arrested for possessing dangerous books, such as those by Karl Marx, Jean Paul Sartre and Pope John XXXIII. In another high-profile case, Maverick defended Madelyn Murray O’Hair while working with the American Civil Liberties Union.

With a long tradition of living up to the family name, the line of Mavericks have made significant contributions to the history of Texas and of civil rights. The family today continues this tradition and is opposed to having the family name co-opted by the McCain campaign.

The current Maury Maverick says that if he hears John McCain call himself a “Maverick” one more time, he’s going to shoot his TV.

I guess it’s a compliment that Sen. McCain would like to be associated with the image of this fine old Texas family and their cows, but to call himself the “Original Maverick” is a bit of a stretch.

If he’d have just changed the slogan to, “Like a Maverick,” or “Similar to a Maverick,” or “Maverick Wannabe,” I’d have no quarrel with it, but you can’t just make stuff up and expect people to believe it.

His voting record is anything but that of an original Maverick. Voting 90 percent of the time with President Bush shows him to be more of a loyal trooper and party faithful than a Maverick nonconformist.

You can put all the lipstick on it you want, but a Maverick is something real, and he ain’t it.

MIKE COCHRAN is a recognized regional historian and a former member of the Denton City Council.