MCCAIN GAINS ON THE RIGHT

REPUBLICAN conservatives are really warming up to Sen. John McCain as they look ahead to 2008 — and one reason is they are starting to see him as the best person to beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Conservatives loved the poll that showed McCain would trounce Clinton by 52 to 36 percent in a White House. It came along just as they were reminding themselves that McCain really is a true-blue conservative.

The clincher was this week's confirmation of President Bush's second Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito, without a bruising showdown over a filibuster — thanks to the "Gang of 14" deal that McCain brokered with Dem moderates.

Conservatives howled betrayal when McCain cut the deal, but, in fact, he got moderates to agree that it's unacceptable to kill a judge's nomination solely because he's a conservative.

McCain is a prime reason why John Kerry's filibuster bid flopped. Read on.