Grading PolitiFact: McCain the maverick? (Updated)

PolitiFact has a chronic problem with the failure to offer charitable interpretation.  Particularly when the subject is a Republican.

The issue:

The fact checkers:

Louis Jacobson:  writer, researcher
Morris Kennedy:  editor

Analysis:

Some of Louis Jacobson's introductory comments seem revealing:

(I)t came as a surprise to us when McCain was quoted on Newsweek magazine's Web site on April 3, 2010, saying, "I never considered myself a maverick. I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities."

Debunking this one wasn't a question of "if" but rather "how can we avoid piling on?"

If that last statement hints that Jacobson's mind was made up as soon as he saw the quotation of McCain, the rest of the story does nothing to dispel that impression.  Jacobson's story offers no evidence that he attempted any critical examination of the context of McCain's statement, though later he will inadvertently stumble over some statements that ought to have forced him to reconsider his course toward the "pants on fire" rating.

As noted, McCain's statement was published at Newsweek magazine's Web site:

Many of the GOP's most faithful, the kind who vote in primaries despite 115-degree heat, tired long ago of McCain the Maverick, the man who had crossed the aisle to work with Democrats on issues like immigration reform, global warming, and restricting campaign contributions. "Maverick" is a mantle McCain no longer claims; in fact, he now denies he ever was one. "I never considered myself a maverick," he told me. "I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." Yet here was Palin, urging her fans four times in 15 minutes to send McCain the Maverick back to Washington.
(Yellow highlights added)

The context:  McCain was apparently engaged in private conversation with the Newsweek reporter, David Margolick.  We do not have the context of that conversation, but rather the context in which Margolick chose to present the quotation.  The "I never considered myself a maverick" line is probably not the sort of thing McCain would push minus some explanation.  Any such explanation was up to Margolick to provide.  There isn't much to stop a reporter from dropping the context, unfortunately.

But rather than try to give consideration to the context, PolitiFact's Jacobson went immediately from his "piling on" comment to the following:

We ignored cases in which Palin or other campaign surrogates used the term on McCain's behalf, sticking instead to instances when McCain himself used it, or when he blessed television advertisements using that term with the words, "I approve this message." (This message, by the way, is a requirement of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which McCain himself spearheaded.)

In other words, Jacobson took for granted that a wooden-literal interpretation minus any nuance of understanding was in order for McCain's statement.  At worst we ought to have seen Jacobson blame that interpretation on Margolick, for that is pretty much the way Margolick presented it in his story.  But is trusting the uncorroborated implications from a reporter really fact checking?

Jacobson proceeded to provide a list of statements where McCain embraced the label "Maverick" to one degree or another.

It makes sense to conclude that if a person embraces a label that he thinks the label applies to him in at least some sense.  But is there more than one sense of the word "maverick"?  Merriam-Webster only lists one relevant sense.  But John McCain has emphasized some nuance with respect to the term.  Jacobson uncovered a clue without recognizing its worth:

In McCain's (slight) defense, we should say that he has on a number of occasions expressed a degree of ambivalence about the title "maverick" -- including his highest-profile use of the word, in his 2008 Republican National Convention acceptance speech. “You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum," he said. "Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.”
(Blue highlights added)

This quotation of McCain seems to make clear that he found at least two meanings in the term "maverick."  "Maverick" can refer to a person who marches to the beat of his own drum.  McCain rejected that uncomplimentary meaning as applied to his political career in favor of the positive one in his subsequent explanation of  "(w)hat it really means."

Jacobson, after interpreting McCain's remarks as "ambivalence" toward the "maverick" label, counts this as a "slight" defense.  More likely it was the entire key to properly understanding McCain's statement to the Newsweek reporter.

Let not evidence stand in the way of a foregone conclusion:

(E)ven if McCain is now listening more closely to his inner ambivalence about the term, it cannot erase the eagerness with which his 2008 presidential campaign touted that particular characteristic as a major selling point for candidacy. So we rate his statement that "I never considered myself a maverick" to be Pants on Fire!

 McCain's statement to Margolick seems consistent with his resistance to the negative connotation of "maverick," though the lack of context makes a firm conclusion elusive.  PolitiFact takes the lack of context as a license to place the least charitable interpretation on McCain's statement.

The grades:

Louis Jacobson:  F
Morris Kennedy:  F

I'd like to have your parents in for a conference.

Update

RealClearPolitics gives us a video update.

Chris Wallace of Fox News Channel pressed McCain on the "never considered myself a maverick" comment.  McCain pretty much dodged the question with more comments consonant with the attempt to keep to a positive take on his failure to maintain strict party loyalty. 

The video doesn't add much to the story except to contribute to the impression that McCain has trouble giving a clear and straight answer on the issue.