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Friday, February 1, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

I have been quite fascinated for some time with the animosity in some very visible and vocal elements of the Republican Party on the issue of John McCain’s conservative credentials. Indeed, one of my posts yesterday touches on the subject. Further, Steve Bainbridge and I had a small back-and-forth on the general topic recently and I have noted it in other posts as well.

I have been intending to write further on this subject, and have been wanting to do some research on the topic but simply haven’t had the time. Still, this morning I note that James Joyner has a round-up of numerous conservative commentators who are all upset about a McCain candidacy. Now part of this is typical internecine warfare that will dissipate once the nominations are set1 (I don’t believe for a moment, for example, that Ann Coulter will be campaigning for Hillary Clinton). Beyond the internal politics issue, however, I think that at the moment there is a great deal of confusion as to what a “conservative” is. Now, I have long thought the concept wasn’t as well defined as many in the American chattering class (or even the political class) thinks that it is, so the current debate simply confirms that thought.

Beyond a deeper discussion of what liberal and conservative may mean, it is amazing to me that the confusion is so deep that the response of so many is that McCain’s political career doesn’t somehow fit the basic rubric of American conservatism. Yes, he championed campaign finance reform2, but Fred Thompson (considered by many of the same McCain bashers cited by Joyner to be a “true” conservative) voted for the bill and Bush (still considered a conservative by most of the anti-McCain group) signed the bill into law. The other items that I normally hear as being proof of McCain’s sin against conservatism include his stance on the border (yet, Reagan, clearly a hero to the faithful, was behind the biggest amnesty of all time and McCain’s position on the border isn’t that different than Bush’s), his working with Ted Kennedy (which Bush did as well on No Child Left Behind), and the fact that he voted against a tax cut that he thought was fiscally irresponsible (and, btw, Reagan, Patron Saint of All Things Conservative, signed more than one tax increase into law).

As such, even forgetting the more complex definition of what “conservative” may mean in a theoretical sense, in a practical sense, McCain’s Sins Against the Cause do not seem to me to be, comparatively speaking, as egregious as so many are making them out to be.

And really, again speaking in comparative terms, Joyner notes:

We do know, however, that his lifetime conservative rating using the same index is 71.8. This compares favorably with Tom Tancredo, a darling of the Borders Are Our Only Issue conservatives, who rates 75.9.

It is fair to note if one looks at the chart linked in the blockquote above, that McCain’s conservative score (as calculated by the National Journal has been less conservative in the last several years. By the same token, even Tancredo had a couple of years in which his voting record was far less conservative than his average.

At any rate, I continue to be very interested in the visceral reactions to McCain.3

  1. Driven, no doubt, by a hope/desperation that bad mouthing McCain will help Romney []
  2. In fairness, I have written about my opposition to BCRA in the past, and maintain the position that substantial elements of the bill violate the First Amendment–my posts on campaign finance reform can be found by clicking and scrolling []
  3. Part of my position is likely informed by the fact that this year I really have had no “rooting interest” in the primary season–certainly none driven by passion for a specific candidate. And I will further note that I was not on the McCain bandwagon in 2024. I will confess that of the 2024 GOP pool, McCain is the least problematic to me, and I have thought for a while that he was going to win the nomination, but I have not decided for whom I will vote in the Alabama primary, nor in the general election. []
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3 Responses to “McCain and the “Conservatives””

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  • pt
    1. James Joyner Says:

      The numbers are skewed by missed votes and McCain has a lot of those, unfortunately.

    2. delburd Says:

      you can still stop McCain!! On your primary ballot this Super Tuesday vote for the true conservative his name is right there staring you in the face Fred Thompson do whats “RIGHT” for our party send these RINOs packing vote Fred Thompson!! http://www.writeinfred.com

    3. doug Says:

      I have been quite fascinated for some time with the animosity in some very visible and vocal elements of the Republican Party on the issue of John McCain’s conservative credentials.

      McCain’s Sins Against the Cause do not seem to me to be, comparatively speaking, as egregious as so many are making them out to be.

      I don’t think it is his position on A, B, or C and his votes on X, Y, and Z that engender the dislike from the right wing. It is that conservatives, myself included, have felt that McCain relishes kicking conservatives in the teeth on some big issues.

      In the past several years McCain has been a leader on three major issues: campaign finance reform, the Iraq war, and immigration. On 2 out of 3 he was going against the conservatives. Now he is doing global warming in the Senate, which puts him at 3/4 against most conservatives.

      Imagine the Democrats nominating a candidate that, while pro-choice and “anti-Iraq war”, co-sponsered a bill extending Bush’s tax cuts for the rich, fought tooth and nail for drilling in ANWR, and was a major impediment to getting SCHIP passed.

      I can’t imagine such a candidate winning the nomination for the Democrats. But if such a candidate did, I can imagine a lot of liberals feeling as bummed out as a lot of conservatives will if McCain is the GOP nominee.


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