Quote:
Originally Posted by chumdawg
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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No, the issue is NOT whether McCain is a strong Republican. The issue, which I believe that you raised, is whether McCain is a good representative of conservatism.
Forget about the Presidential race for a moment. If the pundits (or the general public, for that matter) had been polled 2 years ago and asked to identify which Senator(s) embodied conservatism, how far down the list would McCain have been? Would he have even made the list? Personally, I don't think so.
BTW, while we are at it, I don't think being "pro-military deployment" is really a conservative position. Support for a strong military, yes. But "pro-military deployment" is something different entirely.