Senator McCain is a Conservative – By George J. Marlin
A subset of professional conservatives are bellyaching that Senator John McCain is not fit to carry the 2008 Republican presidential banner. One member of that group, Pat Robertson, who endorsed the pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, anti-gun Giuliani, says pro-life McCain is not a true conservative. How ridiculous is that?
Also, McCain’s biggest establishment GOP critics, Mississippi’s senior senator, Ted Cochran and Pennsylvania’s former senator, Rick Santorum, have legislative voting records that are not very different from the Arizona senator.
McCain’s lifetime American Conservative Union (ACU) legislative rating is 82 percent, Cochran’s is 80 percent and Santorum – who had McCain campaign for him in 2006 and vigorously supported the 2004 re-election of Senator Arlen Specter (ACU rating 42 percent) – had a rating of 88 percent.
Here’s a yearly breakdown of their ACU ratings:
|
McCain (%) |
Santorum (%) |
Cochran (%) |
|
|
1991 |
86 |
80 |
76 |
|
1992 |
85 |
83 |
85 |
|
1993 |
83 |
70 |
84 |
|
1994 |
96 |
81 |
92 |
|
1995 |
91 |
83 |
83 |
|
1996 |
95 |
95 |
94 |
|
1997 |
80 |
84 |
56 |
|
1998 |
68 |
84 |
81 |
|
1999 |
77 |
88 |
84 |
|
2000 |
81 |
100 |
92 |
|
2001 |
68 |
100 |
88 |
|
2002 |
78 |
95 |
90 |
|
2003 |
75 |
90 |
85 |
|
2004 |
73 |
96 |
92 |
|
2005 |
80 |
92 |
88 |
Obviously, McCain, Santorum and Cochran have had their ups and downs, and Conservative nitpickers can point to apostate votes cast by each of them. So, why all the fuss about McCain?
There’s a simple answer: throughout his legislative career Senator McCain has rubbed many of these politicos the wrong way. Men like McCain who survive prison camps are often guilty of this charge. In their rush to make up for lost time, they don’t suffer fools gladly and don’t kowtow to self-proclaimed potentates. They often can’t take seriously people who are easily offended over inconsequential matters.
President John McCain will not go out of his way to upset Conservatives. Because this 70+ year old man will be running against the clock he will focus on one key policy – America’s security. To succeed he will need all Conservatives on board and therefore will not cause a rift by deserting us on social, judicial and tax issues.
It is time for thin-skinned Conservatives to quit grousing and support the man who earned his thick skin in the Hanoi Hilton.
Explore posts in the same categories: Political Issues
streetcornerconservative.com 
February 14, 2008 at 3:34 pm
If you closely analyze those ACU numbers, you’ll see that, year after year, McCain has been scored down for one main reason: taxes. It was because of McCain that Dick Cheney famously said that “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” It is because of those deficits that McCain has opposed (at least initially) certain tax cuts. The question of deficits may debatable, but in the long run they are indicative of a government expanding out of control. McCain as much as any Senator understands the importance of budget cuts, but a balanced budget is also important to him and that may sometimes only be achievable with tax increases–and that strikes me as fundamentally conservative.
February 10, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Conservatives are beginning to amaze me in their inability to see what’s really at stake here. This election is about more than McCain and his inability to follow conservative principals.
How is handing the whole country over to far left liberals a suitable alternative to McCain? What principal is that?
There is a serious difference between McCain and a pure-bread liberal who is bent on destroying ALL conservative values permanently.
Today’s liberal is not like the Bill Clinton’s Presidency. It’s moved radically left… Clinton is now considered a moderated, and loosing it’s power because it’s not radically liberal enough.
The Democratic candidate that is surging now, Obama, is bottom of the barrel liberal. He is about to take power, unless conservatives stop fighting and get serious.
This would give liberals what they will treat as a clear sign from America that is it ready to move sharply to the left. Not slightly to the left.
Cherry picking our candidate is exactly what got us INTO this mess, and if conservatives aren’t careful, they will allow our country spiral out of control.
There is no such thing as a quick recovery from 4 years of radical liberalism unchecked. We may be facing what will take years and years of damage to undo. What’s more, there’s no guarantee that it WILL be undone. Have conservatives completely forgotten Roe v. Wade and other extremely important issues?
Questioning McCain was right and highly useful for a time and a season. Many of us wish we had acted sooner to support Romney or Huck…. But staying home on election day allows liberals a pass to capture all THREE branches of Government. Our kids deserve better out of us.
I’m not asking anyone to sacrifice their own belief or convictions, but we have a serious problem here that requires that we do everything we can to minimize the damage this election can cause to our society.
I’d rather have 50% of McCains ear, than 0% of a liberals ear.
Give it some thought, friends.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
http://thalunatic.blogspot.com
February 10, 2008 at 9:52 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Mike Harmon