I appreciate Greg's graphical proof that McCain is, as he constantly asserts, a conservative, but I think it's missing the point. Democrats don't like McCain on policy grounds. Indeed, except for fuel efficiency and campaign finance reform, a liberal would be hard-pressed to find anything approaching common cause with the successor to Barry Goldwater's seat. What they do like, and what moderates like, is McCain the person. They like the idea that someone could begin healing the partisan divide, that someone would enter office willing to listen to ideas from across the aisle, that someone would be willing to flout interest groups and ideological demands in order to work independently for what he believes to be the best interests of the country.
That's why, when these bimonthly eruptions of posts proving McCain's a conservative occur, they seem so out of touch to me. Folks don't support McCain because of his ideology, they like him because of his demeanor, for what he represents in a poisoned political culture. Now, that might be wrong, and they may need to be reminded that nice people can have deeply conservative beliefs, but we'd be well-served to recognize that this desire for bipartisanship exists. Bush ran on it in 2000 and McCain has capitalized on it ever since; maybe the left's next presidential candidate should make a play for the sentiment too.
