The news media consistently portray McCain as someone above ideology, with appeal to independents and a scorn for dogma. The record tells a different story.
A New Republic headline during John McCain's first run for president sums up the media's views on McCain's politics and ideology: "This Man Is Not a Republican." Since his rise to prominence on the national scene, McCain has been routinely referred to as a moderate -- despite the fact that both his voting record and McCain himself attest that he is a reliable conservative. Take abortion. Over the years, McCain has voted for cutting federal funding of family planning clinics that counseled pregnant women on abortion and has supported a ban on late-term abortion. He has consistently received zero ratings from NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood. In 2000, hard-line social conservative Gary Bauer actually endorsed McCain over Bush because he said McCain assured him he would appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court (Free Ride, Page 139).
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. He has opposed extending the assault weapons ban, federal hate crimes legislation, the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, pro-labor legislation, ergonomics rules, lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and benefits for gay partners. He has supported privatizing Social Security, conservative judicial appointments, the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools (Free Ride, Pages 139-140). On national security, McCain has consistently proven himself to be one of our most hawkish senators. Conservative groups such as the American Conservative Union and the Christian Coalition of America routinely give McCain high marks (Free Ride, Pages 145-146). As McCain himself has said: "I've always been a conservative. I think my voting record clearly indicates that on economic issues, national security issues, social issues -- I'm pro-life -- so I think I could make an argument I've had a pretty clear 20-some-year record basically being conservative" (Free Ride, Page 153). If only the media believed him.
[From Free Ride: Media Myths of McCain]
Anyone who claims McCain is a moderate is remarkably ill-informed.
