As bad as McCain is . . .

John McCain was my absolute last choice for the Republican presidential nomination. I do not trust him. He is too much of a maverick for me.

McCain is too cozy with the liberal national news media, he cozies up too readily with the most extreme liberal elements of the Democratic Party such as Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold to sponsor socialistic legislation, and changes his mind on the drop of a dime, such as he's done on interrigation of international terrorists. He is not a reliable conservative.

All that said, he is still far preferable to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for president. I'll hold my nose to vote for him, but he is the least odious of the major candidates who have a chance to win.

McCain is pro-military, hard core on the Iraq war and defeating muslim terrorism. Certainly McCain's economic policies, while not as conservative as I would like, are light years ahead of Clinton or Obama. While he has the un-nerving proclivity for compromise, McCain would still appoint better judges and Supreme Court justices than Clinton or Obama and staff his cabinet with a few conservatives, here and there.

If McCain were headed for a crushing defeat anyway, it might be worth laying back and letting the GOP be cleansed of the last vestiges of liberalism. However, the polls show him running within the margin of error or leading both Clinton and Obama. Unless the national media turn on him completely between now and November, a distinct possibility by the way--McCain has a real chance to win, and conservatives will only shoot themselves in the foot by wasting their vote on a dubious third party candidate or not voting for president at all.