Dark Star

I don't know what AP pundit Liz Sidoti has been smoking, but I bet it's green...

Philosophically, the country will get either one extreme or the other in the conservative McCain or the liberal Obama.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll from April found that just over a third of all people call themselves conservative while just under a quarter say they are liberal. They rest describe themselves as moderate.

That means voters who aren't at the extremes of the political spectrum likely will be the deciding force. Thus, both candidates already have started to reach toward the middle after primary fights in which both played to their respective political bases.

Even so, the record is clear.

In line with conservative orthodoxy, McCain is a defense hawk who supports the troop-increase strategy in Iraq and opposes a quick pullout. He also favors tougher sanctions against Iran. He backs free trade and the extension of the Bush tax cuts that are the cornerstone of the current economic policy. He opposes abortion rights, and he favors school choice. He is a longtime advocate of fiscal restraint and a crusader against wasteful government spending. He takes a free-market approach to health care.

Obama has a record of liberal votes in the Senate. He opposed extending Bush's tax cuts on investments, a free trade agreement with Central America, drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge, extending federal wiretap provisions and the confirmation of Bush's two Supreme Court nominees. Obama also opposes privatizing Social Security and supports abortion rights. He was against the Iraq war from the start and has made his calls for a pullout a bedrock of his presidential campaign.