[Cicero]

I’ll speak to the question of his ACU ratings.

First of all, he used to be more conservative than he is now, I suspect because Arizona used to be more conservative than it is now. Here are Romesh Ponnaru’s figures, from The Corner:

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McCain’s ACU Ratings [Ramesh Ponnuru]

2000: 81

2001: 68

2002: 78

2003: 80

2004: 72

2005: 80

2006: 65

In recent years, in other words, he has been dragging down his average, sometimes slightly and sometimes substantially.

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Second, ACU ratings don’t mean squat if the liberal actions are really important and the conservative actions are minor. McCain has been responsible for pushing some really BIG liberal ideas through the senate. That’s different from being one of a hundred people voting on a minor bill where your vote doesn’t actually have any effect.

[Checkers]

THANKS for your thoughtful post.