The Occasional Observer

...at the Corner:

In sum, John McCain has been weak on homeland security, joining with numerous liberal Democrats to argue for closing Guantanamo Bay, applying the Geneva Conventions to unlawful enemy combatants, extending certain constitutional rights to detainees, limiting tried and true interrogation techniques, and conferring amnesty on illegal aliens (which would include OTMs; that fact that Bush supported the same thing is no defense). He aggressively opposed the Bush tax cuts, even after they were scaled back. He is behind the McCain-Lieberman Stewardship Act, which is a Kyoto-like manifesto. His role in McCain-Feingold goes well beyond merely voting for it (he was its primary crusader). He organized the Gang of 14, which I contended at the time and still believe effectively killed Republican efforts to kill the Democrat filibustering of judicial nominees. And while he votes against unbalanced budgets, he has no problem with federal intervention in a wide range of matters that are outside the federal government's constitutional limits...

McCain has become a more attractive candidate recently, as his advantage over other Republicans in terms of electability has been repeatedly confirmed in polling. He has a strong pro-life track record, if not a strong advocacy record like, say, Huckabee. He's a legitimate hero, was right about the surge and Rumsfeld's inadequate planning, and his integrity is generally trusted by independents, unlike most GOP candidates.

It's important to remember the whole track record, though, and Levin is helping us do that.