My colleagues Gene Healy and Justin Logan catalogue some of Sen. John McCain’s less admirable policies below, but at the risk of being the skunk at the dinner party, today I have released a paper arguing that John McCain’s trade policy position is much preferable to that of either of the Democratic candidates.

Over his career in the Senate, McCain has been a consistent free trader, voting against increases in trade barriers 88 percent of the time, and against subsidy increases 80 percent. Senators Clinton and Obama, on the other hand, have only managed 31 (Clinton) and 36 (Obama) on tariffs and 14 (Clinton) and zero (Obama) on subsidies. (For all congresscritters’ trade votes, see here).

To his credit, Senator McCain has also avoided the easy and politically tempting practice of railing against trade deals on the campaign trail, including in Michigan where the political prize probably required it. Both the Democratic candidates, however, turned to an unseemly debate on who hated NAFTA the most in Ohio, and may be tempted to do so again while campaigning in Pennsylvania.

Expect the Democratic candidates’ rhetoric on trade policy to degenerate, by the way, as economic conditions worsen.