Editing John McCain (section)

== Political positions ==
{{Main|Political positions of John McCain|Comparison of the 2008 United States presidential candidates}}
[[File:McCain-ACU-ADA-scores.svg|upright=1.5|thumb|right|alt=Chart, with jagged orange and blue lines|McCain's congressional voting scores, from the [[American Conservative Union]] (orange line; 100 is most conservative) and [[Americans for Democratic Action]] (blue line; 100 is most liberal)<ref name="acu-ada-chart">Chart is built from ratings for 1983 to 2017 found at the ratings sections of the websites of the [[American Conservative Union]] and [[Americans for Democratic Action]].</ref>]]

Various [[advocacy group]]s have given McCain scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of each group.<ref>Mayer, William. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2004/03/28/kerrys-record-rings-a-bell/d989604a-b135-452f-9c5d-34531585908a/ "Kerry's Record Rings a Bell"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (March 28, 2004). Retrieved May 12, 2008: "The question of how to measure a senator's or representative's ideology is one that political scientists regularly need to answer. For more than 30 years, the standard method for gauging ideology has been to use the annual ratings of lawmakers' votes by various interest groups, such as the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative Union (ACU)."</ref> CrowdPac, which rates politicians based on donations made and received, gave Senator McCain a score of 4.3C with 10C being the most conservative and 10L being the most liberal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.crowdpac.com/candidates/625/john-mccain |title=John McCain {{!}} US Senate in Arizona (AZ) |publisher=[[Crowdpac]] |access-date=December 20, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119012744/https://www.crowdpac.com/candidates/625/john-mccain |archive-date=November 19, 2016 }}</ref>

The non-partisan ''[[National Journal]]'' rates a Senator's votes by what percentage of the Senate voted more liberally than them, and what percentage more conservatively, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006 (as reported in the 2008 ''[[Almanac of American Politics]]''), McCain's average ratings were as follows: economic policy: 59&nbsp;percent conservative and 41&nbsp;percent liberal; social policy: 54&nbsp;percent conservative and 38&nbsp;percent liberal; and foreign policy: 56&nbsp;percent conservative and 43&nbsp;percent liberal.<ref name="aap-08">[[Michael Barone (pundit)|Barone, Michael]] and [[Richard E. Cohen|Cohen, Richard]]. ''[[The Almanac of American Politics]], 2008'', 95 (Washington, D.C.: National Journal group, 2008, {{ISBN|0-89234-117-3}}). (''National Journal''{{'s}} methodology and criteria are explained in the "Guide to Usage" on pages 15–16.) In 2005, the economic ratings were 52&nbsp;percent conservative and 47&nbsp;percent liberal, the social ratings 64 percent conservative and 23 percent liberal, and the foreign ratings 54 / 45. In 2006, the economic ratings were 64&nbsp;/ 35, the social 46&nbsp;/ 53, and the foreign 58&nbsp;/ 40.</ref> In 2012, the ''National Journal'' gave McCain a composite score of 73 percent conservative and 27 percent liberal,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Almanac of American politics 2014|last=Michael|first=Barone|date=January 1, 2013|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-10558-1|oclc=855896170}}</ref> while in 2013 he received a composite score of 60 percent conservative and 40 percent liberal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The almanac of American politics 2016 : members of Congress and governors: their profiles and election results, their states and districts|last1=Barnes|first1=James A.|last2=Keating|first2=Holland|last3=Charlie|first3=Cook|last4=Michael|first4=Barone|last5=Louis|first5=Jacobson|last6=Louis|first6=Peck|isbn=978-1-938518-31-7|oclc=927103599}}</ref>

Columnists such as Robert Robb and [[Matthew Continetti]] used a formulation devised by [[William F. Buckley Jr.]] to describe McCain as "conservative" but not "a conservative", meaning that while McCain usually tended towards conservative positions, he was not "anchored by the philosophical tenets of modern American conservatism".<ref name="Robb">Robb, Robert.
[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/is_john_mccain_a_conservative.html "Is McCain a conservative?"], [[RealClearPolitics]] (February 1, 2008). Retrieved June 18, 2008.</ref><ref>Continetti, Matthew.
[https://www.latimes.com/la-op-antle-continetti6mar06,0,2263942.story "Not your dad's Republicans"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (March 6, 2008). Retrieved July 19, 2012.</ref> Following his 2008 presidential election loss, McCain began adopting more orthodox conservative views; the magazine ''National Journal'' rated McCain along with seven of his colleagues as the "most conservative" Senators for 2010<ref>Condon, Stephanie.
[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-ranked-most-conservative-senator-in-2010/ "John McCain ranked most conservative senator in 2010"] CBS News (February 24, 2011). Retrieved February 26, 2011.</ref> and he achieved a 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union for that year.<ref name="acu-ada-chart" /> During Barack Obama's presidency, McCain was one of the top five Republicans most likely to vote with Obama's position on significant votes; McCain voted with Obama's position on such votes more than half the time in 2013 and was "censured by the Arizona Republican party for a so-called 'liberal' voting record".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/collins-murkowski-most-likely-republicans-to-back-obama|title=Collins, Murkowski Most Likely Republicans to Back Obama|last1=Lesniewski|first1=Niels|date=February 4, 2014|work=[[Roll Call]]|access-date=March 24, 2018|last2=Lesniewski|first2=Niels}}</ref>

From the late 1990s until 2008, McCain was a board member of [[Project Vote Smart]] which was set up by Richard Kimball, his 1986 Senate opponent.<ref>Kimball, Richard. [http://www.votesmart.org/program_history.php "Program History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512121936/http://www.votesmart.org/program_history.php |date=May 12, 2008 }}, [[Project Vote Smart]]. Retrieved May 20, 2008. Also see Nintzel, Jim. [http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid%3A109591 "Test Study: Why are politicians like John McCain suddenly so afraid of Project Vote Smart?"], ''[[Tucson Weekly]]'' (April 17, 2008). Retrieved May 21, 2008. Also see Stein, Jonathan. [https://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/04/mccain-project-vote-smart.html "Senator Straight Talk Won't Go on the Record with Project Vote Smart"], ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' (April 7, 2008). Retrieved May 21, 2008.</ref> The project provides non-partisan information about the political positions of McCain<ref>[http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=53270 "Senator John Sidney McCain III (AZ)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512121840/http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=53270 |date=May 12, 2008 }}, [[Project Vote Smart]]. Retrieved May 20, 2008. Non-partisan information about McCain's issue positions is also provided online by other sources. See, e.g., [http://www.ontheissues.org/John_McCain.htm "John McCain on the Issues"], [[On the Issues|OnTheIssues]]. Retrieved May 18, 2008.</ref> and other candidates for political office. Additionally, McCain used his Senate website to describe his political positions.<ref>[https://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.Home "Issues"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115145054/https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.Home |date=November 15, 2017 }}, McCain's official U.S. Senate website. Retrieved May 21, 2008.</ref>

In his 2008 speech to the [[Conservative Political Action Conference|CPAC]] McCain stated that he believed in "small government; fiscal discipline; low taxes; a strong defense, judges who enforce, and not make, our laws; the social values that are the true source of our strength; and, generally, the steadfast defense of our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."<ref>{{Cite web |title=McCain adresses conservative conference |url=https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/27/mccain.cpac/index.html |access-date=August 28, 2023 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

In his 2018 memoir ''[[The Restless Wave (book)|The Restless Wave]]'' he described himself as "a proponent of lower taxes, less government, free markets, free trade, defense readiness, and democratic internationalism."