Shape-Shifting John McCain: 2010′s Most “Conservative” Senator

(January 24, 2011 - Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)

Yes, I know.  Sounds ridiculous right?  Well, the people over at The National Journal have compiled voting data from last year, and have determined that John McCain is now the “Most Conservative Senator” in Washington.  Fight back the laughter and take a look at this for a minute…

Now take a look at how last year’s number’s match up with the John McCain from the early 2000′s.

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1994 huh?  Wonder what happened that year?  Notice a trend?

Senator McCain’s two “most conservative” years just happened to correspond with the two biggest Republican/Right-Wing movements in modern American history… The Republican Revolution and the Tea Party Movement… Coincidence?   I think not.

National Journal’s analysis charts 96 votes in the Senate, but I think we all know it could have tracked 5 or 5000 and the results would have been the same for Senator McCain.  He has made a career of moving Left to Right with the wave of public sentiment; and in doing so only demonstrates his absolute lack of integrity, character, or understanding of conservative principles.

How can one purport to stand for Founding Principles for two calendar years – 1994 and 2010 – but absolutely abandon them for the in-between?  Its actually quite simple when you view said in the context of a politician rather than that of a Statesman or even a conservative.  The goal is to gain public favor and to ultimately find success in re-election.  There is no accounting for core values or moving the country in the right direction.  The objective is inherently selfish, and does nothing more than discredit the office and the Party one represents.

Now some of you may say I’m getting a little carried away with this “report”, and that it is reflective of a John McCain bending to the will of his constituents.  To that I say hogwash.  Absolute hogwash.  Are you telling me that the People of Arizona moved that far to the Left in just a matter of years – only to move back to the Right just as quickly?  I’m not buying it folks; and I never will.

This type of shape-shifting, political opportunism, is precisely why sites like Republican Redefined exist.  Senators like John McCain are the very reason I bang out these trivial little posts each and every day.  He stands for nothing, save for that which will get him re-elected and that which will garner him face-time with the MSM.

From a more broad perspective, John McCain reflects the type of politics I loath above all others.  He is a bumper sticker talking point cheerleader who leads from the back.  His values and core political ideology are not rooted in Founding Principles or conservatism; they are rooted in political expediency.

This is why I continue to caution every passionate and fired-up Right-Winger that I come across to be mindful of the bumper sticker crowd.  They say exactly what you want to hear; when you want to hear it…  but tell you nothing of their true composition.

What I would ask of anyone even half-interested in conservative politics or the future of the Republican Party is this.  Dig deeper than the campaign slogans; look critically at the bumper sticker talking points; pull back the curtain on the politically expedient rabble-rousers that aim to exploit a Right-leaning movement; and ask for yourself the questions of WHY?  Why do they take this position or that?  Why do they support this cause rather than those?  Why are they conservative?  And if the answers are more talking points – cut and run with great haste

Many of the individuals that our Party would turn to and label as the “next great thing” could be just that.  They may be true conservatives with a firm grasp on Founding principles.  That said, would not the more prudent course be to ask the questions of WHY on the front end; rather than waiting until more than two decades have past and irreparable damage has been done to the Party name before we begin asking some difficult questions?  John McCain took over the seat of Barry Goldwater – “Mr. Conservative” himself.  Barry Goldwater folks.  With 20+ years in the rear view, does this bumper sticker politician really measure up to that standard?

I think not.  ”Most Conservative Senator” – Laughable…

Nay ridiculous!

Someone should have been asking Senator McCain some pressing questions in the 80′s and we all would have been better off for the effort.

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Here’s the rest of the Top Ten

1. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) 89.7
1. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) 89.7
1. John Cornyn (R-Texas) 89.7
1. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) 89.7
1. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) 89.7
1. John McCain (R-Ariz.) 89.7
1. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) 89.7
1. John Thune (R-S.D.) 89.7
9. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) 87.3
10. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) 86.8

* — Conservative Composite Score

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LD over at Political Realities is going to love seeing his boy Tom Coburn below McCain on this list.

Tags: 2010, arizona, Barry Goldwater, changeling, jim demint, John McCain, john mccain conservative, john mccain most conservative, most conservative, most conservative legislator, most conservative senator, national journal, REPUBLICAN, shapeshifter, voting record

This entry was posted on February 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm and is filed under CONSERVATISM, REPUBLICAN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.