If You Always Hurt The One You Love...

...then John McCain REALLY loves conservatives.

John Fund doesn't think we matter much to McCain.

Brad Smith begs to differ.

Jeffrey Lord points out that McCain only has himself to blame:

According to Victor's story, McCain's best year as a conservative came in 1994, when he was ranked the 8th most conservative among all Senators. By 2004, he had fallen to 49th, with rankings of 45 and 46 respectively for 2005 and 2006. No ranking was available for 2007. The 2004 ranking, Victor says, tied McCain with the GOP's famously liberal Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, with only two liberal Republicans further to the left, Maine's Olympia Snowe and Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee. Chafee, of course, faced a primary challenge from a conservative in 2006 and then lost to a Democrat in the fall. He has now announced that he is leaving the Republican Party.

Conservatives across America clearly have some sort of sense of McCain that corresponds with the essence of Victor's story, even if they have not seen it -- and with the Internet being what it is doubtless it is already everywhere. In other words, the problem for McCain is not talk radio hosts anymore than it is mainstream reporters covering the Senate. The problem is McCain's record.

Exactly.

McCain should have read Al Regnery's book before going to CPAC.

It's enough to make me wish the GOP would play hardball like the Dems. No Big Tent in the People's Republic of the DNC.

Perhaps Maggie Williams will show us a thing or two.