They also point out that McCain has voted with Republicans 85 percent of the time, yet Obama has voted along party lines 97 percent of the time.
McCain has a longer record of bucking his party’s orthodoxy.
McCain, in Congress for 26 years to Obama's four, has the longer record of producing bipartisan alliances on tough issues. He has bucked his party again and again to do just that — on immigration, federal judges and campaign finance, to name three on which he enraged many Republicans by defying the party position and working with Democrats. McCain-the-maverick has reverted to party orthodoxy on taxes and other issues this year, which will put him in a bind if elected: Would he stick with those new positions, or compromise with the Democratic Congress he'd likely be working with?
As McCain points out on the campaign trail, Obama has a much thinner record of bucking his own party. With the exception of tough fights for ethics reforms in the Illinois Senate and in Washington — where he angered Democratic colleagues by insisting on the disclosure of lobbyists who bundle campaign donations — Obama has rarely challenged party dogma on the sort of big, contentious issues he'd face as president. As a U.S. senator, he has taken liberal Democratic positions on most issues. Studies by Congressional Quarterly show Obama has voted with his party almost 97% of the time, vs. about 85% for McCain.
In a year when it will take both sides of the political aisle to solve problems, it is John McCain that has the track record of being able to do so and bucking his party at times to get things accomplished.
Obama likes to talk about how he can cross the aisle and work with the other side, but McCain has walked the walk.
Their voting record is all people need to look at to see that McCain has gone against his own party far more than Obama has and there is no reason to think that will change.
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