Did anti-war Mccain voters in primaries know he was pro-war?
It's a stretch. Back in 2000 we heard McCain embracing neoconservatism. Like a man who has made a breakfast of two bran muffins and a pot of strong coffee might embrace the last square on a roll of toilet tissue. Candidate Bush, on the other hand, spoke of a humble foreign policy, free of entanglements such as nation-building. And this was fairly well reported and widely understood. One can reasonably assume that the average primary voter is somewhat more interested than the average general election voter, most of whom are bought off in drive-by fashion by political operatives for the price of a carton of cigarettes and a hot meal, so I find rather incredible the proposition that the average McCain primary supporter would be so ignorant.
Then again, could the average gringo even point to Iraq on a globe while they were clamoring to invade it? According to gallup.com, only 17% of randomly selected adult Americans could do so in 2002. So it's certainly within the realm of possibility.