Krusty Konservative, an influential Iowa blogger, gave a rundown on John McCain yesterday. Overall it wasn't too favorable. Here are some of Krusty's points:

Gay marriage: Senator McCain is an opponent of a federal amendment to ban gay marriage. He says, “I oppose the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages…” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 8/29/04) He even voted against it in 2004. Ouch. The McCain people will tell you that he believes it is an issue that each state should settle. If it were me I would be supportive of individual states efforts AND a federal amendment.

Tax Cuts: An early opponent of the Bush tax cuts – McCain voted against them in 2001, citing his desire for fiscal responsibility. Later, he changed his position on the Bush tax cuts and voted for their extension after he began looking towards an ’08 run.

Abortion: McCain says he has a 100% pro-life voting record. While it’s not 100%, it’s pretty good, overall. However, he has a few are trouble spots. In the San Francisco Chronicle (8/20/99) McCain sided with the pro-abortion camp, suggesting that overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to illegal abortions. “"I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary," McCain told the Chronicle. "But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

Immigration: McCain’s position is a tough one for most konservatives, but it’s an issue that also haunts konservatives like Brownback and Huckabee. His basic position appears to be “amnesty by another name”. Frankly, I’m distrustful of any immigration bill co-sponsored by Ted Kennedy, and thus I don’t think I could support the McCain-Kennedy Immigration bill.”

McCain-Feingold: (what’s with all the co-sponsorships with the most liberal members of the Senate?): Perhaps the most liberal item in the McCain record – it especially affects political speech on the right, while allowing unions and other voices on the left to go unabated. McCain Feingold has done more to destroy state political parties than any other single act in history. But since the Democrats were set up with unions to play a similar role, and used 527s more aggressively than Republicans, konservatives are left outgunned.

In a speech in Feb. of 2000 at Virginia Beach, McCain said that evangelical Christians in politics are “agents of intolerance.” Later, when given an opportunity to korrect it, he said “I must not and will not retract anything that I said in that speech at Virginia Beach. It was carefully crafted, it was carefully thought out." (Hardball, 3/1/00)Oh, and one more thing. And lets also not forget that McCain did skip the Iowa Kaucuses in 2000.