Fair enough. He's not a movement Conservative. I'm Arizona libertarian/conservative and McCain in Nixon Conservative. We have fought and hissed at each other for 25 years.
Here is McCain's VOTING RECORD
It is not what I prefer but it is a logical progression from the man who holds Barry Goldwater's Senate seat. Strong to moderate conservative.
Then we hit the boutique issues. The are the issues that run through the public psyche at intervals. Sometimes promoted by the press and sometimes "instant, whitehot, wild" from the grassroots. These are where McCain departs from conservative orthodoxy. AWB, CFR, Border Control, Global Warming, Gang of 14.
Remember that McCain does hold Goldwater's seat and that he takes it VERY seriously. He wants to be great like Goldwater or Hayden or Undall but he doesn't quite know how. He tries by attempting to resolve the important issues of the day by compromise.
I sense that there may be greatness in that, in and of itself. A self-governing people have a right to be wrong. Whether it is prohibition or silver at 16 to 1 or Global Warming or any other of a myriad of issues if the desire is strong enough it will be sated. We can make our case and warn and cajole but in the end we cannot stand athwart history yelling STOP!
I am looking beyond a McCain Presidency and trying to discern what the shape of the future will be and how we can shape that future to our ends. What if the next Reagan is a sunken-chest little pipsqueak? Will the ideas be strong enough to carry the country. How can we adjust to reality? We live in a dynamic society and we have to realize that things are happening fast. We can take advantage of that or we can be overrun by it.