The success of John McCain may make primary-watching more fun. After all, who wanted the moneybags to decide the contest before a single vote was cast?

Plus, George W. Bush, still clinging to his mother's skirt and his dad's coattails, seems woefully unqualified to be President.

And George W.'s embrace of Pat Robertson and Bob Jones is enough to turn the stomach of any but the most rightwing Americans.

McCain's fight for campaign finance reform and against the tobacco companies has also made him popular with liberals: In Michigan, 78% of those identifying themselves as liberals in the primary voted for McCain.

But watch what you ask for.

McCain is no liberal.

Look at his foreign policy team, for openers.

He has Henry Kissinger on board! The man behind the secret bombings of Cambodia and Laos, the man behind Pinochet, the man behind UNITA in Angola and Suharto in Indonesia.

Also advising McCain on foreign policy are Jeane Kirkpatrick and Robert McFarlane. During the Reagan years, this duo supported the brutal regime in El Salvador and helped engineer the contra war against Nicaragua, which cost 30,000 lives.

McCain is now wrapping himself in the mantle of Reagan, and if by that he means Reagan's Central America policy, beware!

He's also for the new incarnation of Reagan's Star Wars program, which is sure to antagonize Russia and China, thus making us less--not more--safe.

He thinks the Pentagon is underfunded at $300 billion a year, even though Lawrence Korb, who was Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan years, says the Pentagon budget can be cut by $100 billion.

And he's in favor of NAFTA, the WTO, and free trade (so are Gore and Bradley).

On domestic issues, McCain is no liberal, either.

He's anti-abortion.

He voted against increases in the minimum wage.

He's pro-death penalty (so are Gore and Bradley).

He opposes anti-discrimination laws for gays and lesbians.

He rails against "self-serving union bosses."

He's against the Brady Bill.

And he backed Newt Gingrich's Contract with America.

McCain may seem refreshing right now, especially in comparison to the dullard W., but liberals shouldn't kid themselves.

A McCain Presidency may be more like Ronald Reagan's than you'd imagine.

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