McCain is not a conservative

To start things off, I'd like to note that my opponent did not really clarify what he meant by the word 'conservative.' There are a number of ways a person can be conservative, so this is certainly something that ought to be clarified before any further discussion can be had on this topic. For the purposes of this round, I will assume that my opponent is referring to the coalition of social, fiscal, and foreign policy conservatives brought together by Reagan to achieve his landslide 1980 presidential victory. I am assuming this for two reasons: First, because it is that same coalition that makes up today's Republican party, which my opponent implicitly agrees is pretty much synonymous with 'conservative' for the purposes of this debate. Second, because my opponent has a quote from Reagan on his profile, so I assume he respects him and the direction he took the party. So we must, for this debate, judge John McCain under that framework. So let's look at some specifics. (All statements of McCain's policy positions are paraphrased from McCain's official campaign website, http://www.johnmccain.com...). Conservative Coalition Part 1 - Social conservatism: John McCain is pro-life, believing Roe v. Wade should be reversed. He has an adopted daughter, so he clearly has what it takes not only to vocally oppose abortion, but also to promote and even do the things (i.e. adoption) that can help make abortion seem less necessary to struggling young women. He believes marriage should be between one man and one woman, and he promises to appoint non-activist judges to help ensure that such decisions are in the hands of state governments, where, Constitutionally, they should be. He is opposed to most elements of stem-cell research, but he understands the benefits, so he does not oppose adult stem-cell research, which is a promising field of study that doesn't involve embryos. Conservative Coalition Part 2 - Fiscal conservatism: McCain believes the government ought to restrain its spending to necessary projects, and he is incredibly precise in his opposition to earmark spending. He believes Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare need to be reformed, keeping in mind the government's obligations to all Americans, including the children who currently seem doomed to inherit the broken system. Despite what my opponent says, McCain actually supports making the Bush tax cuts permanent, and has supported the elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax, "saving middle class families nearly $60 billion in a single year." He is so against raising taxes that he thinks Congress should have to pass any tax hike with a three-fifths majority. He stresses that tax cut plans should always be accompanied by spending cuts - what could be more fiscally conservative than that? Conservative Coalition Part 3 - Foreign policy conservatism: Here is where McCain really takes the cake. He has supported the War in Iraq every step of the way, only disagreeing somewhat with the Bush administration over the strategic handling of the war; he said more troops were necessary, and he has been well vindicated by the successes of the 2007 surge. And you don't often get much more foreign policy experience than he has out of a politician. In short, McCain satisfies all three pieces of Reagan's conservative coalition. He is, in fact, fond of saying that he was a "foot soldier" in Reagan's 1980 campaign. He is a conservative, period. My opponent brings up an interesting point regarding illegal immigration. In response, I would note that the current illegal immigration debate is pretty new, and has not really had enough time to crystallize into a true liberal vs. conservative debate. Every major position has elements of both liberalism and conservatism; for example, though McCain supports what has come to be termed as 'amnesty', he thinks the first step in any immigration reform policy is to firmly secure the borders. Unless my opponent can lay out what a conservative plan would be, this point is rather moot. I'm looking forward to seeing what my opponent has to say.