I think you have hit on the real issue here, which is: What does it mean to be a "conservative?" Insofar as the Republicans are concerned, there are three competing camps, each with their own claim to the mantle. There are the fiscal conservatives, the social conservatives, and the pro-military-deployment conservatives. What we are really talking about is not whether McCain is "conservative," because clearly he is. What we are talking about is whether McCain is a strong "Republican." Those two are not the same thing. Not these days, anyway.
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