ThatTheyMayB1: John McCain is not a true conservative.

Short audio clips:

The real John McCain

The McCain-Clinton love fest

The case can be made – and needs to be made -- that John McCain is not a true conservative.

Can someone say, “Bob Dole II”? (I guess I just did.)

Yes, he is a brave American war hero. But being courageous and loyal to one’s country is not the only thing someone needs to be qualified to lead our country. They need to have the right ideas as well. Simply stated, John McCain is a moderate, not a conservative.

“He is not a conservative,” say real, leading conservatives like Senator Rick Santorium, Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt, and Judge Robert Bork. (Bork, as you recall, was President Reagan’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 80’s but was denied the bench because liberals in the Senate thought he was too conservative). McCain was endorsed -- by all things -- the New York Times, which above everything reflects his non-conservative positions.

As a case in point, the Politico’s Jonathan Martin presents in a piece following the Michigan primary, exit poll numbers contrasting McCain and Romney:

McCain won Democrats 41-33%. McCain won pro-choice voters 39-35%. He won among those who never attend church by 11 points — 39-28. The “architect of the surge” won with Iraq war disapprovers 36-29.

For crying out load, McCain cares more about global warming than he does about abortion! That right there should tell you where he is ideologically.

Martin continues:

Even while campaigning in Christian conservative-heavy western Michigan, McCain was content to stick with the economy, spending, the war and climate change. Not once did he ever bring up the fact that he, unlike his top rival, had a consistent pro-life voting record.
I asked a top McCain adviser why the senator would never raise what would seem like a beneficial issue and didn't really get much of an answer.
The reality is -- to borrow Rudy's favorite phrase -- is that McCain is only comfortable talking about that which he really cares about.
And he's much more passionate about global warming than he is about abortion. The problem is that most of his own party takes the exact opposite view.

Moreover, McCain has been criticized for possessing no consistent, principled ideology or philosophy; rather his views and positions on issues seem to be guided more by what I would call a narcissistic pragmatism – a worldview that sees that the right policy is whatever works in promoting John McCain, the candidate for President.

McCain’s record:

McCain-Feingold (The infamous campaign finance “reform” law that birthed MoveOn.org.)

McCain-Kennedy (The proposed immigration "reform" package that would have provided amnesty for illegal immigrants.)

McCain-Lieberman (He believes global warming is a serious threat requiring drastic action now! This legislation would economically disadvantage the U.S. in the world economy.)