Topic: Conservatism
How Conservative is John McCAin
Are the constant attacks on McCain for being a RINO coming from the far right justified or misdirected?
by Dave Nalle
(libertarian)
Sunday, April 27, 2008

With all the attention being paid to the death-struggle between Clinton and Obama on the left, not much attention is being paid to John McCain, but he is still the presumptive Republican nominee, and eventually voters on the right will have to stop gloating about the Democrat meltdown and start thinking seriously about how they feel about McCain. Some far right groups are already raising concerns and throwing around accusations that McCain is a RINO (Republican in Name Only) and doesn't embrace true conservative values.

They may be overlooking the fact that the GOP is more than just a hardcore conservative party and that it has always had a strong libertarian constituency and a good large chunk of moderates, but are they even right? Is McCain really as left-leaning as the far right would have us believe? The information compiled about McCain's record on sites like Project Vote Smart and On the Issues seems to suggest that while McCain isn't an entirely textbook conservative he certainly holds very conservative positions on most core issues, adding up to a position which is certainly to the right of the mainstream of the GOP, even if it is not on the extreme right.

Let's consider McCain's record on the top 5 conservative issues: Guns, Taxes, Abortion, Defense and Family Values.

Guns: McCain is from Arizona which is about the most conservative state in the nation on gun issues. He wouldn't be in office at all if he wasn't a big gun supporter. And in fact, McCain has opposed every major gun control proposal he's been presented with. He supported assault weapon ownership, he supports a national law to allow concealed carry, he opposed allowing suits against gun makers, he opposed magazine size and ammunition restrictions, he voted agains the Brady Bill and he voted against background checks at gun shows twice. It is literally impossible to have a more conservative position on gun control than McCain does based on his actual record. Nonetheless, many have accused McCain of being a 'gun grabber' based primarily on his low ratings from Gun Owners of America. What they usually aren't aware of is that the GOA rating which McCain did poorly on includes a lot of very strange issues which have nothing to do with guns and represent GOA's broader reactionary agenda. As a result many Republicans who are very pro-gun scored even lower than McCain.

Taxes: McCain opposes virtually every possible tax increase and is on the record advocating decreasing or eliminating most taxes. Unlike most of the other candidates, McCain actually took Project Vote Smart's Political Courage Test in 2004 and it goes into considerable detail on his position on taxes. It shows him advocating a greatly decreasing taxes in every area, except for income taxes on the highest incomes and the cigarette tax, both of which he would maintain at current levels. He opposes the marriage penalty, would decrease inheritance taxes, increase most deduictions, lower capital gains taxes, and even lower corporate taxes. The only places where he comes up at all short is that he doesn't go all the way to eliminating the current tax system or repealing estate and capital gains taxes. He consistently receives one of the highest ratings from groups like Americans for Tax Reform and the National Taxpayers Union. In fact, he had a higher rating from the NTU than Ron Paul did and was the 6th highest rated of all Senators and Representatives. Nonetheless there are those who fault McCain's record on cutting taxes because he didn't vote for the original Bush tax cuts. Yet at the time he made very clear that he thought those cuts should be accompanied by spending cuts, and it's hard to imagine a more conservative or fiscally responsible position than that.

Abortion: According to the Political Courage Test, McCain has a pretty conservative and very clear position on Abortion. He opposes any kind of public funding, opposes abortion in all cases except for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. He also voted against allowing partial birth abortion. The only way he could be more conservative on abortion would be to support a total ban on all forms of abortion, and only a handful of elected Republicans take that position. Abortion groups tend to be absolutist, but throughout his career McCain has had solid 0 ratings from NARAL and Planned Parenthood, and has had fairly good ratings, mostly in ther top 20% from groups like the National Right to Life Committee. On this issue his position is pretty unambiguous, and only the most extreme conservatives think there are even any questions to raise.

Defense: When it comes to the War on Terror, opposing radical Islam and supporting the military, McCain is about the most conservative person you can find in elective office. He's the prototype for a pro-defense hawk. His record on this is unassailable. He's supported every military action, every aggressive foreign policy and every military appropriation he's ever seen. On this one he's actually too conservative for some conservatives who have come around to the other side and become less than sanguine about military adventurism. But certainly on the view of defense which has been traditional among Republicans, McCain is as conservative as they come. If McCain comes up short on this issue it's only in the very limited context of his opposition to torture and his belief that suspected terrorists have a right to some sort of trial. Last time I checked, support of torture wasn't a mainstream conservative position and most conservatives are strong on human rights, so I don't really see these positions as inconsistent with conservatism, even if they are out of step with the Bush administration.

Family Values: This is a bit of a catch-all, but it's clearly important to religious conservatives if not to those who are conservative primarily on issues like defense and taxes. In this area McCain certainly seems to toe the conservative line. He's a church-going Christian. He supports the War on Drugs and the death penalty. He supports school choice and vouchers. Perhaps most importantly he supports a federal ban on gay marriage. And his abortion position, mentioned earlier, fits right in too. Some conservative groups give him good ratings, like Traditional Values Coalition. Yet other conservative groups aren't pleased with McCain, which may be because his conservative positions are traditional, but not extreme. Gay marriage is a good example, because while he opposes gay marriage he does support legal and equal civil unions, a position he shares with President Bush, but which irritates those who think that sodomy should still be illegal. On the whole

Other Issues: On some lesser but still quite important issues, McCain has notably conservative positions. His views on welfare are extremely conservative, for example. He wants to link all forms of welfare to work and training programs and funnel as much of it as possible through private institutions, including church groups. That's a very conservative position. More importantly to me, he also supports privatization of Social Security, a position which convinced me to support Bush, and which he found himself unable to follow through on. Maybe McCain could make privatization a reality. He has also come out against some elements of the Patriot Act and believes in more restrictions and oversight on wiretaps and other forms of surveillance of citizens and that seems like a very positive conservative position.

Where McCain does come up short for some conservatives is on the issue of immigration, and the related issues of free trade and corporate capitalism. While conservatives have traditionally been pro-business and in favor of trade and keeping the cost of labor down, a lot of conservatives have strayed from that traditional position and have become increasingly nativist, protectionist and isolationist, all positions which used to be the exclusive domain of the left. On this issue I would contend that McCain remains true to conservative values, and a lot of self-described conservatives have lost their way. In my book they are the real RINOs.

While McCain could possibly be more conservative, he's more conservative than many Republicans, and the truth is that if he were much more conservative than he is he'd have little chance of winning a national election and certainly wouldn't draw many of the essential democrat and independent votes needed for a win. So to answer the question in the title, McCain is pretty damned conservative and you couldn't reasonably expect more. Conservatives who oppose him ought to take a moment and consider who they could support who is more conservative and could actually get elected. They might also want to consider the alternative -- their choice of two extremist socialists who view any form of conservatism as evil.

©2008 Dave Nalle, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Sunday, April 27, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, April 27, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Dave Nalle only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Dave Nalle is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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Reader Comments:

Posted By: Lloyd Kempson
Date: 2008-04-27 18:17:13

Thanks for pointing out the good that McCain can do while in office. Hopefully he won't be under the same pressure that Bush had on civil unions and Illegal immigration. I hope that he does cut taxes and that he does not icrease spending. I hope that he also opens ANWAR and the West coast of Florida's Gulf Of Mexico up to Oil exploration. I hope that he does not take up global warming and environmentalism like Bush did, but that does not seem likely. Let's hope for the best and expect the worst.

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Posted By: Tess
Date: 2008-04-27 19:38:19

He is way too soft on illegal immigration, and wants to continue to waste the tax payers money with continual war.  This man is no conservative, he is a bleeding heart Republican liberal, and a wishy-washy one at that.  One minute he is for voting against tax cuts, then he is running for office, and then he favors them, I just do not get this man.  He does not abide by our Constitution, and will be no better than Bush.  He is currently making a joke of the FEC, and the matching fund program by not abiding by those rules either, this man gets a big fat NO from this conservative Republican.

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Posted By: Zak
Date: 2008-04-27 20:26:43

The first question that must be asked here is what is a conservative by definition? Over time we have seen several politicians very different in ideology called conservatives includings: Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and most recently, Ron Paul, Geroge Bush and John McCain. Conservativism is: "A political ideology generally characterized by a belief in individualism and minimal government intervention in the economy and society; also a belief in the virtue of the status quo and general acceptance of traditional morality" ([link edited for length]).

 For the sake of time I'm only going to use your criteria for judging what defines a conservative.

 Well, on guns you are right, McCain does stick to policies consistent with conservativism. Taxes on the other hand, which go hand-in-hand with the welfare he supports, are very imposing on individualism and minimal government intervention in society. He wants to help everybody with good strong welfare, which must be supported by tax payer dollars. This forces an individual, who may or may not need welfare, to pay for the benefit of others, a socialist idea. Welfare is also a massive intervention in society. It limits the individuals choice on how to spend their money, an integral decision in our lives.

McCain is far too strong on Domestic Surveillance and the need for invasive CIA/FBI/Military. Empire building is a massive intervention in society where one dominant idea is imposed onto all people. Such an idea must first happen domestically so that people will support empire building when nationalism is promoted. That is how empire building begins. A Conservative would leave people to choose their own ideologies in, and out of, this country.

With abortion we can garner a simple response in that a true conservative would support the individual's right to choose abortion. It need not receive government money and it should not under our constitution. Also, this is not an issue for a federal employee to be considered with, because under the constitution this would be a states choice (16th Amendment).

Here the reasoning is also simple, a true conservative would protect the right of families to form in their own choosen ways.

Lastly John McCain has failed to demonstrate a proper respect for the Constitution, which is the "Supreme Law of the Land". The final part of what conservatism is, that they respect the status quo and traditional morality, McCain fails to fit. Traditional morality would be that of the founding fathers since they are the basis for all of our political discussions.

So if he is not a conservative what is he? "consociationalism A form of democracy in which harmony in segmented societies is maintained through the distinctive roles of elites and the autonomy of organized interests ([link edited for length]). For McCain the elites would, simply put, be the bankers, private welfare owners, and special interest groups (and McCain has plenty of those). They would work, in conjunction with government, to foster 'harmony' (a subjective term).

McCain is not a conservative and neither is Ron Paul for that matter. Ron Paul is Constitutionalist. He talks a lot about his personal beliefs and he displays virtue, however, if you listen closely you can hear his true point is that he respects, and follows, our constitution which is the most important thing we can look for in a Presidential canidate. When any member of political office is inaugurated they must recite an Oath of Office, which swears them to their most imporatant duty: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God" ([link edited for length]).

Zak Hawke

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Posted By: Gary R. Carter
Date: 2008-04-27 22:28:39

Ah, it is refreshing to see some coverage of McCain on here, though I do believe his war-mongerism tends to obscure other issues he is conservative on.

I do, also, disagree with Zak a little on his position that Paul is not conservative. While, from certain vantage points he does not fit into the modern sense of the term, his traditional values and thrifty spending fall well into the conservative definitions.  

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Posted By: C. D. Tavares
Date: 2008-04-27 22:35:59

"It is literally impossible to have a more conservative position on gun control than McCain does based on his actual record"

Not hardly.

John McCain allied himself with Americans for Gun Safety, a "false flag" anti-gun organization funded by billionaire Andrew McKelvey.  McCain appeared in the group's television and movie-theatre ads that pushed through anti-gun initiatives in Oregon and Colorado. McCain personally stumped in Oregon for a ballot initiative requiring government involvement in person-to-person gun sales. Because he was a "moderate conservative," he gave credibility to the initiative, and many voted for it because of his backing -- enough that it passed. Not publicised, but buried within the initiative, was language legitimizing a permanent registry of gun owners kept by the State Police.

Fatuously claiming that "alleged members of terrorist organizations have been able to secure guns and weapons using the gun show loophole," he and Senators Lieberman and Schumer sponsored a gun show bill that would have buried gun owners under a mountain of red tape, and invested the Secretary of the Treasury with unlimited power to regulate gun shows. The bill would have registered all attendees and vendors at gun shows, and forwarded their names to the Federal government within five days. Even inadvertent violations would be punished with federal prison time.

McCain attacked the National Rifle Association with his campaign finance reform bill that made it illegal for organizations like the NRA to communicate political information to their members before an election.

While it's true that Arizona is a very pro-gun state, none of that virtue automatically rubs off on McCain. Arizona gun owners were so "pleased" with McCain that they spearheaded a recall drive in 2001 (which was unfortunately discontinued immediately after 9/11). 

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Posted By: Dave Nalle
Date: 2008-04-27 23:08:24

though I do believe his war-mongerism tends to obscure other issues he is conservative on.

 IMO that's neither a left or right, conservative or non-conservative issue.  Certainly, plenty of respected conservatives have believed in war as a way of solving problems.  Ronald Reagan comes to mind.

Dave 

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Posted By: Dave Nalle
Date: 2008-04-27 23:17:10

McCain is far too strong on Domestic Surveillance and the need for invasive CIA/FBI/Military. Empire building is a massive intervention in society where one dominant idea is imposed onto all people. Such an idea must first happen domestically so that people will support empire building when nationalism is promoted. That is how empire building begins. A Conservative would leave people to choose their own ideologies in, and out of, this country.

Name one major conservative figure in the GOP (Ron Paul doesn't count) who has a better position on these issues than McCain.  He may not be what we'd ask for, but he has spoken out against domestic surveillance and other PATRIOT provisions, not to mention rendition, torture, GITMO and the rest.

Dave 

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Posted By: Gary R. Carter
Date: 2008-04-27 23:20:15

I respect your opinion, but still disagree that war does not apply. A strong defense is conservative, but war is a tax forcefully imposed on citizens. McCain's idea of good defense is a strong offense. Unfortunately, he gets the equation reversed.

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Posted By: Ivan from Oregon
Date: 2008-04-28 08:09:00

Since when has militatry adventurism becom a "conservative" principle?

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Posted By: patrick henry
Date: 2008-04-28 12:11:36

Defense would mean we are defending our country, we are currently waging war in other countries, this means offense.

Furthermore, conservatism means your interpretation of the Constitution, either it is the law or if you are a liberal it is a fluid working document open to interpretation. so to call Dr. Paul a constitutionalist and not a conservative is doublespeak.

The good McCain has done? Please enlighten us, Keating 5, War with Iraq and saber rattling for Iran? Dumping his wife? Campaign finance law breaking?

States choice on the 16th Amend? Did you mean the 10th?

LIBERTY or DEATH

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Posted By: Zak
Date: 2008-04-28 19:34:02

Yeah I did mean the 10th, thanks for that fix-up, I'm too obsessed with the 16th I guess.

Conservativism isn't a view on the constitution because it would exist with or without a constitution in place. It refers to the way a politician manages their duties within the economic or social spectrums. Your description of Conservative vs. Liberal seems to me like the way we interpret and classify judges. However, we call them either strict constructionists (Ron Paul if he were a Judge), which are typically appointed by more conservative politicians since they respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land (which is the original status quo), or Textualists. Textualists believe a piece of text should not be strict to its words and that over time the intent of the statute, and the directive of it, can be taken into account when ruling on said statute.

I have to agree Ron Paul is very conservative in what the constitution will allow him to do. That is his primary difference between most modern conservatives. It is this repsect for the constitution that makes me vote for him.

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Posted By: Dave Nalle
Date: 2008-04-28 22:02:47

Conservatism and Liberalism aren't actually opposites.  You can be a conservative and ALSO be a liberal.  In fact, in America with a political tradition which originates in liberalism,. a true conservative position would be to be liberal.

Now, of course, when I say Liberal here I mean actual liberalism - which is much more like what most of us call libertarianism - not the various forms of socialism and collectivism which we currently lump together as 'liberalism' when associated with the Democrat party.

Dave 

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