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Matt York/Associated Press Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, spoke Nov. 2 at an election night party in Phoenix.

In the ideological rankings of members of Congress that the National Journal released Thursday, one name stands out.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

Once a self-described “maverick” whose conservative ranking in the survey was among the lowest in the Senate, Mr. McCain this year tied with a handful of other Republican senators as the most conservative of all, according to a release provided to The Caucus by the National Journal.

The news organization ranked lawmakers on the ideological spectrum based on about 100 key votes in 2010. The annual survey assigns point values to the votes, and Republicans receive scores. The closer to 100, the more conservative they are.

Mr. McCain earned an 89.7, putting him in a tie with senators like Jim DeMint of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming. No one scored higher than that in this year’s survey.

That contrasts with previous years, when Mr. McCain regularly ranked as somewhere near the 45th most conservative member of the Senate.

What happened?

Several things. The 2008 presidential campaign forced Mr. McCain to become the standard-bearer of the Republican party, rather than a member who could embrace contrary positions whenever he wanted.

Even as he was losing to Mr. Obama in late 2008, Mr. McCain appeared to embrace his new role. His anti-Democratic rhetoric on the stump sharpened considerably from those days when he ranked near the bottom of the conservative Senators.

And even after Mr. Obama assumed the presidency and Mr. McCain returned to the Senate, the senator from Arizona took up the mantle of opposition to the Democratic president, especially on issues of health care.

Finally, as he approached re-election, Mr. McCain was challenged by a Tea Party candidate who accused Mr. McCain of not being a conservative. Perhaps to prove that wrong, Mr. McCain appears to have changed his voting pattern.

Click here to see the entire 2010 list from the National Journal.

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President Obama, with help from his wife and daughters, flipped a switch to light the National Christmas Tree on the ellipse south of the White House and sent special holiday wishes to the unemployed and troops serving abroad.

With the First Family bundled against the blustery cold, Mr. Obama told onlookers, “Snow or shine, in good times and in periods of hardship, folks like you have gathered with presidents to light our national tree.”

He noted that while the presidential tree-lighting is a tradition now 88 years old, during World War II some trees went without lights to conserve electricity. This year’s tree, a 42-foot-tall Colorado blue spruce, was lit with energy-efficient color bulbs.

“Each year we’ve come together to celebrate a story that has endured for two millennia,” the president said. “It’s a story that’s dear to Michelle and me as Christians, but it’s a message that’s universal: A child was born far from home to spread a simple message of love and redemption to every human being around the world.”

He closed with holiday wishes from himself, the first lady, daughters Malia and Sasha, his mother-in-law Marian Robinson – “our grandmother-in-chief”—and Bo, the First Dog.

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Both the main Democratic and Republican campaign committees ended the 2010 political season with roughly $15 million in debt from their final attempts to sway voters in the days before the midterm elections, according to financial disclosure reports filed late Thursday night that track the period between Oct. 14 and Nov. 22.

In addition to its debt, the Republican National Committee ended the election season with just about $1.9 million on hand to pay its mountains of bills. Underscoring the committee’s money woes, the organization told vendors earlier this week that they would not be paid on time.

The Democratic National Committee also racked up roughly $15 million in debt, though it also reported having $9.7 million in the bank.

While it is common for committees to end the season in the red, the Republican cash-to-debt ratio is unusually large. Michael Steele, the party chairman, has faced criticism previously for his management of the committee’s financials.

It is not clear how the new financial disclosures will affect Mr. Steele’s standing, and he has yet to decide if he’ll run for re-election in January. It is rather likely, however, that the seven Republicans considering a challenge for the position will take this “cashflow challenge” as another example that it’s time for a leadership shakeup. (Former Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich already have voiced their desire for changes at the R.N.C.)

In other information released on Thursday, both committees spent more than they raised in the final push before the midterms, with the R.N.C. spending $24.7 million and the D.N.C. spending $30.3 million.

Looking specifically at House campaigns, Democrats appear to be in tough shape. The disclosure forms show that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee owes $19.5 million with $3 million on hand. The committee made a dramatic – and largely ineffective – last-minute push, spending nearly $55 million in the two weeks before the election, while its Republican counterpart spent just about $30 million and ended the period with only $6 million in debt.

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A grassroots movement against the Transportation Security Administration’s new body scanners appeared to have little effect on holiday travel Wednesday at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. Click play below to watch a video report: This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made [...]

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