McCain a conservative?

Not quite a full-blown conservative, but this story supports what I'd said back when the primary was still tight. John McCain isn't as far off from the conservative base as many of us make him out to be.

McCain more conservative than his image

WASHINGTON - The independent label sticks to John McCain because he antagonizes fellow Republicans and likes to work with Democrats.

But a different label applies to his actual record: conservative.

The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party's social conservatives.

The article goes on to cite examples of his conservatism, but notes his appeal to the middle as well.

In a national Pew survey earlier this year, voters placed McCain in the middle, where they placed themselves, when asked to judge the ideology of Bush and the presidential candidates. They placed Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama far to the left.

And voters who back Clinton and Obama are open to McCain.

Nearly a third of Clinton supporters said they would back McCain if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, and more than a quarter of Obama supporters said they would back McCain over Clinton, according to Associated Press-Ipsos polling released Thursday.

While he has some solid conservative credentials, I'm the first to admit he has his leftist streaks. But that's McCain. It comes with the territory.