well here is the link for his 2004 voting record. He defected from the party 21% of the time which is more than most but still voted 80% for the Republican issues. I would say 80% is at least moderate wouldn't you.
http://bolson.org/gov/us/senate/2004/
or would you still say 80% denotes a liberal cause there are Dems here that defected more than that and they have been vilified here like Grahan in Florida.......my god, we hate him but he voted with Repubs 50% of the time.
This is the only reason I say that people tend to highlight the negative and not the positive
My problem with McCain is the big things he defects on such as same sex marriage and tax cuts. He also believes the junk science called global warming. These aren't small issues. When it counts most, he's not there for conservatives.