01/24/2008 (2:02 pm)
McCain To the Center
On a challenge from a friend, I reviewed the American Conservative Union (ACU) ratings for Senator John McCain (R, AZ) for each of the years he’s served in the Senate. It turns out that McCain used to be a solid conservative, but shifted toward the center around 1997.
McCain’s lifetime rating from the ACU is 84, which seems center-right if taken at face value. However, his ratings used to be to the right of that point consistently, and now appear to the left of it consistently.
The arithmetic mean of McCain’s ACU ratings from 1987 through 1996 is 88.2; during that period, he was rated no lower than 80 for any one year.
The mean of McCain’s ACU ratings since 1997 is 74.9; during that period, he has been rated no higher than 81 for any one year.
I’ve read nothing that explains McCain’s shift in 1997. I speculate that perhaps it had something to do with collaboration with Senate Democrats over refusing to remove President Clinton from office, or with a reaction to the entire impeachment process. Whatever the cause, though, the shift is obvious in the raw data, and fairly quick. Data appear below.
Ann Coulter takes McCain’s record to the woodshed today on Human Events. She apparently thinks less of him than I do, and I don’t like the man.
Here’s the data, gathered from the American Conservative Union’s web site:
- 2006 65
2005 80
2004 72
2003 80
2002 78
2001 68
2000 81
1999 77
1998 68
1997 80
1996 91
1995 91
1994 96
1993 83
1992 85
1991 86
1990 87
1989 93
1988 80
1987 91
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6 Comments »
Comment by Apollo
You’re off slightly. In 1996, McCain scored a 95, which actually furthers your point marginally (his first 10 year average is 88.7).
Also, McCain was in the House from 83-86. His ratings for those years were: 96, 86, 81, 73. (Avg: 84). That sharp drop off was in the year he was running for Senate.
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Comment by Phil
Apollo is correct. Oops.
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