The American Conservative Union (ACU) ... rates the legislative voting records of members of Congress. In its own words, it is the “umbrella grassroots lobbying group of the Conservative Movement.” Its conservative credentials are unimpeachable and its ratings are an objective analysis of dozens of recorded votes on a variety of issues. So what do the ACU’s ratings say about John McCain’s record?

Is he a real conservative?  Yes!

The latest release of the ACU’s ratings are for 2006. Those ratings indicate:

(1) that John McCain has had a lifetime conservative record of 82.3 percent,
(2) that his record was more conservative than any Democrat in the Senate, including Barack Obama who had a lifetime conservative record of only 8 percent and Hillary Clinton who had a lifetime conservative rating of only 9 percent, and
(3) that while 37 Republican Senators in 2006 had more conservative records, 16 Republican Senators in 2006 had less conservative records. This means that John McCain had a more conservative voting record than 62 of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate.

Based on these ratings, though not quite as conservative as the average Republican Senator, John McCain is clearly a conservative. Claims that he is a moderate or a liberal are not supported by this evidence.