I've already acknowleged that he's a RINO who's grown more conservative in recent years.
eskimospy (or any liberal who's halfway knowledgable)...please weigh in and tell this yahoo he has no clue as to what he's talking about. McCain has been considered a RINO for quite some time.
I didn't go back to pre-civil rights southern democratic party to say democrats have moved left as if you think I'm trying to cherry pick the data...that's all you and your "liberal brain defect". The data is presentated for the the post civil rights era as well and it clearly shows Dems have moved left since this time. You linked an op-ed from Mother Jones as if it somehow "proves" the Dems have moved right...a clear case of confirmation bias from a brain defective liberal...how fitting.
There are several factors which have contributed to this trend...but there is really little doubt that the Democratic Party has moved left since the 60s and have continued this trend in recent years as well.Long-term trends show Democratic Party moving to the left
DW-Nominate, the only ideological voting scorecard for members of all Congresses, all-time (1789--current), shows Democratic Senators moving, on average, decisively to the left over the past eighty years.
Democratic Senators, mean DW-nominate score by decade, 1930-2010
Scale is negative 1.000 to positive 1.000, with lower numbers indicating a more left-leaning economic voting record
1930's: -0.111 (334)
1940's: -0.096 (289)
1950's: -0.167 (269)
1960's: -0.271 (330)
1970's: -0.291 (299)
1980's: -0.303 (249)
1990's: -0.370 (248)
2000's: -0.394 (253)
Second, here is more recent detail on the trend, looking at each individual Congress (two-year period). Once again, the number in parenthesis is the total number of Democratic Senators during that Congress (including Independents Jeffords, Lieberman and Sanders; also including Senators who did not serve an entire two-year term):
More recent detail, 1989-2010
101st: -0.319 (56)
102nd: -0.331 (58)
103rd: -0.341 (57)
104th: -0.357 (48)
105th: -0.381 (45)
106th: -0.373 (46)
107th: -0.378 (51)
108th: -0.378 (49)
109th: -0.402 (45)
110th: -0.405 (51)
111th: -0.416 (60)
The trend through the decades, and over the last eleven Congress, is unmistakable: the party keeps moving to the left. The main factor in this trend has been the long, slow defection of conservative, southern Democrats out of the party, and the influx of liberal Senators from the northeast and west coast. It is also a reflection of ideological self-identification trends among the rank and file, as self-identified liberals are increasing as a percentage of the overall party:
I don't have time to explain but read this and it should answer most of your questions.
Where have I claimed that the Republican Party wasn't moving right? You can't because I never said that. Did you not understand Post #29 or the graph I posted in Post #37. I rarely call someone an idiot in this forum but I'm going to make an exception in your case.
That's certainly part of it, but I think another big factor is McCain's disillusionment with the press. Except for abortion, McCain didn't reach across the aisle so much as live there between elections. He enjoyed his "maverick" status (which is mediaspeak for a Republican who can always be counted upon to produce a statement criticizing other Republicans, never the reverse) and thought he was one of the club. McCain learned the hard way that he was merely a useful idiot and like all such, the media would regretfully conclude that darn it, the Democrat (whoever it may be) is just so much better that regretfully they have to endorse/support his opponent. Republican "mavericks" are useful only where they can damage other Republicans, and once they threaten a Democrat with an actual chance of winning they are always dropped.
Here's another graphic I found interesting. House Democrats appear to be much more monolithic and much more left of center than Republicans.
...or perhaps +0.5 for that matter. But I can see how -0.5 (or +0.5) would confirm the delusional bias of someone with a highly partisan worldview.
I was not aware that Clinton was considered a DINO by many in his own party. Lieberman yes...and we know what happened to him.
McCain was considered a RINO by many in the Republican Party well before the Tea Party came along. Yes or no?
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