Now that John McCain’s not running for office, he can stop pretending he’s a conservative again. In fact, he’s already making mavericky noise in the Senate, reminding us all why we were so disappointed to have him as the Republican nominee.

The surest sign of McCain’s return to his “maverick” ways came when he caught wind of an effort by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) to delay Clinton’s confirmation vote by a day, pushing it from Tuesday to Wednesday because he was seeking greater disclosure about foreign donors to former president Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation. McCain found the objection gratuitous — despite policy disagreements with Clinton, he and most Republicans consider her well qualified — and said so publicly.

To McCain, “maverick” means seeking out bipartisan work that hinders the conservative cause.

Meanwhile, he’s on Larry King mumbling Senator Jon Kyl’s name.

Asked on CNN’s “Larry King Live” if he plans to support Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the Republican presidential primaries, McCain said it would be “improper” to commit now because “I don’t know who’s running, for one thing, because, for example, my friend Jon Kyl, my colleague from Arizona.”

That last quote wasn’t even a sentence.

McCain then trailed off, appearing as if he had accidentally floated Kyl’s name.

When King followed up to ask if Kyl, the Senate’s minority whip, plans to run, McCain responded: “Now, wait a minute. Jon would be astonished to hear that I said that.”

I like how he didn’t even finish his sentence, like he suddenly remembered that he wasn’t supposed to say anything.

Leave it to John McCain to bring up names out of nowhere, and then try and pretend like what he said had no significance.

How about you move aside, McCain, and let a new generation of actual conservatives inspire us?  Even if Jon Kyl is a good potential candidate, the last thing he needs is McCain’s endorsement.