We finally have a major media outlet, the AP, reporting that John McCain is actually a conservative:

The independent label sticks to John McCain because he antagonizes fellow Republicans and likes to work with Democrats.

But a different label applies to his actual record: conservative.

The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party’s social conservatives.

And when you look at his position on foreign policy (war! war! war!), as well as his new love for torture, we can safely classify him as a neo-con. Maybe now rest of the media will follow suit and remove their lips from his ass.