To the far-right in the Republican Party, there is no mistake about it. In a party that generally brooks no compromise with Obama, McCain is the compromiser-in-chief. He’s negotiating with the White House.

And he’s in-their-face about it, having recently described as “wacko birds” two of the right’s most uncompromising heroes, Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

A recent article in the conservative National Review described McCain as “Obama’s secret weapon” and a “lethal threat” to a Republican victory in the budget battles this fall. …

So popular has the Arizona Republican become among Democrats that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – who in 2008 said, “I can’t stand John McCain” – now describes him as a “great senator,” right up there with the late Ted Kennedy, the Democratic “lion of the Senate” who became a bridge between parties after his own presidential ambitions were crushed.

“He’s become our go-to guy,” a senior Democratic aide said of the 76-year-old white-haired senator.