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“McCain IS conservative on MY issues..... abortion/taxes/military”

And this is precisely the problem with the GOP.

Assuming that conservatives want to stay with the party it is imperative, if they want their agenda advanced, that they give support to the broad spectrum of conservative principles and not just the ones they prefer. McCain is good on national defense, votes pro-life but doesn’t appear to be particular enthusiastic about it, has waffled on taxes but appears to be OK overall. He is a leftist when it comes to immigration policy. His stance on “climate change” can only lead to government expansion and economic hardship. And he pushes hard to annul the first amendment with his destructive “campaign finance reform” policies.

So overall McCain is a moderate Republican. But he is no conservative. And no conservative should support him - not for reasons of “purity” but for reasons of practical politics.

Conservatives may not agree with equal fervor on every conservative principle. But they should give support to these regardless. And they should do this with the expectation that the principles they do hold dear are also given support by those who do not think of them as particularly important. If they want to win conservatives must accomodate all factions within the movement and not compromise on conservatism. The left is exploiting the differences within the movement with the express goal of splitting the factions and rendering them impotent.

If conservatives want to advance their cause they must accomodate one another and work together. The road to electoral defeat has been paved by compromises that have discredited the conservative message and fractured the conservative base. And politicians like McCain are a very big factor in this. He divides the conservative base. He weakens the overall message because he actively opposes conservative principles that are important.

If there is any alternative to him - any candidate that espouses conservatism and who will give support to these even when he is not particularly enamored of one or two - then that candidate should be put up against McCain and others like McCain and every effort should be made to get them nominated.

The leftists have their factions too. But over the past 15 years they have imposed party discipline and every faction gives support to every other faction no matter how reluctantly because the overall goal was electoral success. You can see how well this has worked. Conservatives, if they want to advance their agenda, must emulate the left insofar as party unity and party discipline goes and they must insist that their candidates support conservative priniciples across the board.