John McCain: Conservative Through Coercion

John McCain, the Maverick Senator from Arizona. The man that is willing to take principled stands on tough issues. Like Supporting Illegal immigration by reaching across the isle to work with that bastion of conservatism Ted Kennedy to write a bill that virtually assured amnesty for illegal immigrants, or working with Russ Fiengold on campaign finance reform, or his support of Cap and Trade, or his no vote on the Bush tax cuts.

But wait, now Mr. McCain supports tough immigration laws, is willing to spend $20,000,000 to secure his primary win, and supports the continuation of the Bush Tax Cuts. What happened?

I would say Mr. McCain drank the TEA and through some miracle has become a conservative, or at least a conservative enough to get re-elected. It's evident that Mr. McCain throughout his entire political career has taken steps to increase the power of the federal government, and move to take advantage of whatever position he thought would keep him in office. Too bad the great majority of these positions were progressive liberal positions.

What does this man really believe? I would say that his actions over his career define him pretty well. He is a liberal. He wants the government to wield power over the individual. It's evident that he thinks the government can make better decisions for individuals than the individual can for themselves.

His primary win in Arizona this week over JD Hayworth was described by many as a loss for the Tea Party and a win for the Washington Republican Establishment. I don't think so. Had the Tea Party and it's followers not raised the conservative banner and it's values over the last two years, do you think Mr. McCain would acquiesce to the conservative views that he now seemingly embraces. No way. The bottom line is that Mr. McCain had no choice, he read the tea leaves and now extols conservative values on most every issue. I'm sure that genuine conservatives in Arizona would rather have a Senator of their own ilk, but sometimes I guess you have to reach across the isle and make a compromise.