Conservatives Fault McCain on Campaign Finance, Stem Cells, Immigration

He's voted correctly on issues important to conservatives three quarters of the time during his 20 years in the U.S. Senate, though his ratings in recent years have slipped. He encouraged the U.S. military surge in Iraq. He's long opposed abortion rights. And he's fought the secretive practice of tucking funding for home-state boondoggles and pet projects into legislation. So why is John McCain so despised by his party's right flank?

Conservative talk-radio host Mark Levin accused the Arizona senator of being "intemperate, stubborn." Evangelical leader James Dobson of Focus on the Family says McCain has stuck his thumb in the eyes of conservatives over social issues. Radio talker Laura Ingraham says he's lied about his immigration stand. And the former Vietnam prisoner of war wants to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay and believes the simulated drowning technique of waterboarding is torture.

Among their gripes:

Campaign finance. McCain cosponsored legislation to control political campaign contributions by the wealthy. Conservatives say the law, signed by President Bush in 2002, suppresses free speech. With the emergence of unregulated political groups called 527s that can raise unlimited money to promote political causes, it hasn't exactly worked out that way. Still, the anger lingers.

Stem cell research. McCain has supported federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, anathema to some conservatives who believe it tantamount to abortion. "Beyond the Christian conservative pale," Dobson says.

Immigration. A 2005 immigration bill sponsored by McCain and Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy would have allowed illegal aliens to pay a fine and participate in a worker visa program. Conservatives charged that amounted to amnesty.

Gang of 14. During Supreme Court nomination hearings in 2005, McCain led a bipartisan group that prevented Democratic filibusters of Bush nominees and blocked a controversial maneuver threatened by the GOP to permanently end filibusters of judicial nominees. Bush got his nominees, but some conservatives still bristle over McCain's role in thwarting the rule change.