My my, who would have expected this? It seems that the Republican frontrunner, John McCain, accepted money from no one else than George Soros, the uberliberal billionaire whose sole goal in life seems to be to defeat and discredit conservatives.

In 2001, McCain founded the Alexandria, Va.-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros’ Open Society Institute and Teresa Heinz Kerry’s Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations.

McCain used the institute to promote his political agenda and provide compensation to key campaign operatives between elections.

In 2006, the Arizona senator was forced to sever his formal ties with the Reform Institute after a controversial $200,000 contribution from Cablevision came to light. McCain solicited the donation for the Reform Institute using his membership on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, he supported Cablevision’s push to introduce the more profitable al la carte pricing, rather than packages of TV programming.

Yet, the Reform Institute still employs the McCain campaign’s Hispanic outreach director, Juan Hernandez, as a senior fellow of its Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative.

And:

The July 6, 2001, homepage of the Reform Institute archived on the Internet lists founder McCain as chairman of the group’s advisory committee.

Prominent senior officials on the McCain 2008 presidential campaign staff found generously paid positions at the Reform Institute following the senator’s unsuccessful run for the White House in 2000.

Rick Davis, McCain’s current campaign manager, was paid $110,000 a year by the Reform Institute for a consulting position, according to the group’s 2003 Form 990 filing with the IRS.

And what is this?

Carla Eudy, a senior advisor on McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign who until recently headed fundraising, was paid $177,885 in 2005 to serve as the Reform Institute’s secretary-treasurer.

Other McCain presidential campaign staffers who have found employment at the Reform Institute include Trevor Potter, McCain’s 2000 legal counsel, and Crystal Benton, the senator’s former press secretary, who served as institute’s communications director in 2005 for an annual salary of $52,083.

Huh?

The Reform Institute regularly has supported McCain in various legislative efforts, including on campaign finance reform, global warming and “comprehensive immigration reform,” all efforts widely opposed by many in the party’s conservative base.

Suddenly it makes sense why McCain has become less conservative over the years (no rating in 2007 because he was not present in the Senate often enough, but only 69% conservative rating in 2006); it’s the money stupid.