His mentor (from his own words) was a Dem., and if you look at his voting record, and graph it vs time, the makeup of congress and importance (factoring in vetos and whether there was a veto threat prior) what you find as the top 3 indicators are:
(1) "stand out from the herd-ness". An example is prior to Congress flipping during Clintion. He voted w/the Rs mostly, and his high CU comes mostly from that period. He didn't vote with the Rs if the leading lights of the Left voted against the Rs but enough of the remainder voted the same as the bulk of the Rs and there was no veto threat or there threatened to be a majority that could over-ride a veto.
(2) Expanding Socialism. As long as it didn't outweigh his standout factor, he voted to expand the fed gov and toward socialism.
(3) reelection timeframe. within 6 months for high visibility and 3 months for low visibility bills that were inline with campaign promises he started voting favorably.
Well, looking at the time, I see I'm out of mine. Gotta go on duty... have a good day! Great chopping bait with you!
I think we mostly agree when we’re referring to the same time periods in McCain’s political career.