BOOKER RISING OP-ED: Conservatives In Meltdown Mode

My jaw dropped last night while watching "Hannity & Colmes" on the FOX News Channel. I saw and heard Ann Coulter - who supports former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for president - say she would support and even campaign for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) against Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) in the general election if Sen. McCain wins the Republican Party nomination. "She's more conservative that he is," said Ms. Coulter, referring to Sen. Clinton "I think she will be stronger on the war on terrorism...I will campaign for her if it's McCain." Ms. Coulter also claimed that while Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain are running in different party primaries, "their positions are about [ ] far apart." Hold up, Ann Coulter endorsed Sen. Clinton even though she agrees with Sen. McCain on far more issues?! This is what McCain Derangement Syndrome will do to folks.



For some time, Rush Limbaugh has been on fire on his radio show about Sen. McCain. I also saw a hard-hitting political ad, twice last night on FOX News Channel, by some PAC called Citizens United Victory Fund. The ad claimed that Sen. McCain is as "surprisingly liberal" as Sen. Clinton. Say what?!



Granted, Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain have some or much agreement on issues such as global warming, no drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, campaign finance reform, closing Gitmo, no torturing of terrorists, being lax on illegal immigration, and how patients are treated in health care. However, many conservatives' claim that Sen. Clinton is at least as or more conservative than Sen. McCain is not factual. Sen. McCain agrees with Ms. Coulter on abortion, affirmative action, the Cuba embargo, death penalty, federal spending, the flag burning amendment, gay rights, guns, health care, the Iraq War, judicial picks, school prayer, school vouchers, Social Security, tax cuts (he did not support President George W. Bush's tax cuts because they didn't include spending cuts), and unions. See how different their policy positions and voting records are for yourself. Ignoring the facts is what McCain Derangement Syndrome will do to folks.

One can also examine Sen. McCain's most recent ratings - which are from 2006 - from conservative groups like the American Conservative Union (65% conservative rating), the fiscally conservative Club For Growth (76% conservative rating) and National Taxpayers Union (88% conservative rating), and the socially conservative Family Research Council (62% conservative rating). Check out his ratings from liberal groups like Americans for Democratic Action (15% liberal rating), the socially liberal ACLU (33% liberal rating); and the League of Conservation Voters (29% liberal rating). Despite many conservatives' claim that Sen. McCain votes with the Democrats, as of September 2007 he voted with Republican Party 87.3% of the time. Assuming that Ms. Coulter believes that the GOP is always right, how is Sen. McCain's 87%-voting-with-the-GOP-record bad for the Republican Party? Ignoring the facts is what McCain Derangment Syndrome will do to folks.

Sen. Clinton's ratings from conservative groups are 6% conservative from the ACU, 8% from Club For Growth, 17% conservative from the National Taxpayers Union, and 0% conservative from the Family Research Council. Her ratings from liberal groups are 95% liberal from ADA, 83% liberal from the ACLU, and 71% liberal from the LCV. As of September 2007, Sen. Clinton voted with Democratic Party 96.7% of the time.

These ratings tell me that Sen. McCain overall is a moderate-conservative, or somewhat but not firmly in the conservative camp. More specifically, he is fiscal conservative, a social moderate-conservative, but a foreign policy moderate (e.g., he favors the War in Iraq, but also wants to shut down Gitmo and opposes torture). He is also a Republican Party loyalist. These ratings also tell me that Sen. Clinton is firmly in the liberal camp (i.e., not a moderate-liberal), and is a Democratic Party loyalist.

As I've said before, many conservatives are allowing Sen. McCain's 35% liberal ideology to override his 65% conservative ideology. Now conservatives could argue that Sen. McCain is "insufficiently" conservative for their tastes. However, to argue that he is a liberal is just plain ridiculous. I guess I am just too pragmatic and logical to be a partisan. I really don't get these conservatives who are in blind dislike, emotionally-based meltdown mode over Sen. John McCain.