While John McCain’s often-touted maverick tendencies have frequently gotten him into trouble with conservatives in his party, in the waning weeks of the election it’s becoming clear that he’s also got a problem with another Republican constituency: his fellow GOP mavericks.

In the past week alone, a handful of liberal, moderate and independent-leaning Republican officials have publicly announced they are supporting Barack Obama. Few of them are still important party figures —and at least one is no longer a member of the Republican Party—but even so, their public repudiation of McCain is a dispiriting blow since his record of breaking with party orthodoxy in many ways resembles their own.

Over the summer, former Iowa Congressman and House Banking Committee Chairman James A. Leach, a liberal Republican who also lost his office in 2006, announced his support (more...)