Just a reminder of why relying on John McCain to fight for the life of the unborn may be a bit…optimistic:
His position in 1999/2000 (and today):
And again, during the debates leading up to the 2000 campaign (note how combative he is toward G.W. Bush on rape/incest/life exceptions - and how correctly Alan Keyes points out the flaw in the argument of both McCain and Bush):
On the ESCR issue:
A bit more on his ESCR support:
And yet, at Saddleback - a seeming contradiction:
Cindy McCain, asked about Roe, says she is pro-life like her husband, yet opposes any elimination of life exceptions, and does not think it should be overturned (and then says, wait, yes, she does think it should if it goes to the states):
In the event this might just be considered a slip of the tongue, GMA follows up - and look how curtly she dismisses abortion as “not the major issue on people’s minds right now” (McCain tries to recover):
While there’s no question that McCain is substantially less pro-abortion than Obama, he does not deserve the honorable label of pro-life. Considering that many of us are planning to vote for him on that issue alone (and I am not immune from the temptation) I think it’s important to remember who he is, the positions he has taken in the past, and even the potential influence of his wife.
I also believe that it’s worth noting - and I hadn’t read this before this evening - that all the way back in February, Republicans for Choice endorsed McCain (emphasis mine):
Republicans for Choice initially favored Rudy Giuliani for president, but have given their endorsement to McCain following Giuliani’s withdrawal from the race on January 29. Stone says that McCain is the least pro-life candidate in the field, and is thus deserving of the Republicans for Choice endorsement.
“[McCain] is [pro-life], but it’s not at the top of his agenda, not like Huckabee or the born-again Romney,” Stone said in an interview with CNS News. “He’s shown his willingness to reach across the party, and we look forward to those discussions.”
This organization also praised McCain’s campaign earlier this year for modifying the party plank on abortion:
Was there any good news at the Platform Hearings in Minnesota for Moderate/Conservative Pro-Choice Republicans?
Yah Sure You Betcha! But you didn’t read about it or see it on TV.
But the platform is still anti-choice and very anti-woman in many parts. So, how can we say there is any positive to be found?
First, the McCain campaign did not have control over what ultimately would be finalized in the Platform. If they had their way they would have cut it down to just a few pages and stripped out most of the stuff with which we disagree. That was their original intent but there were not the votes on the Platform committee to get that done.
Many of the Delegates on that Committee were not McCain Delegates — they were Huckabee and Romney et al Delegates.
Second, the McCain Platform staff writers, at our prodding, put in language into the Abortion Plank itself that talked about the need to work with those in the Party who disagree on this issue to find common ground.
This is the first time ever that any Presidential contender tried to tinker with that plank to add in language that recognized us.
This was not our first choice of what to put in — but it was RFC’s suggestion. The more extreme elements of our Party who were on the Platform Committee in abundance stripped that language out.
We may have been defeated in the subcommittee but Platform Chairs Congressman Kevin McCarthy (CA) and Senator Richard Burr (NC) came through for us in the full Convention.
They added and reworked language that we, at RFC, had submitted, into the Preamble! Not the appendix as had been done before — sticking some pathetic and weak attempt to appease us into the back end which no one sees.
No instead they took our suggested language and made it stronger and put it right up front.
Interestingly, Republicans for Choice also makes the case that neither John Roberts nor Samuel Alito are known quantities when facing a challenge to Roe - and that in fact both of them have records which could be construed to favor precedent in such a situation. I’ve been concerned about this for some time - New Oxford Review has expressed the same doubts about these two justices - and it does make me wonder what our odds are, even if McCain gets in, that he will:
a) pick a truly anti-Roe justice (or justices)
b) be able to have such justices, if nominated, confirmed by a democratic Congress
c) create an actual, willing majority on the SCOTUS which will strike down Roe
So there you have it. I’m looking for the truth here, for my own sake as well as anyone who cares to listen, and there’s a lot to be concerned about. There’s plenty of stuff out there saying John McCain is pro-life, that he’s feared by the pro-abortion lobby, etc., but I think his own words speak for themselves. He is not someone we can really trust on this, and we have to know that going in, even if we feel compelled (as many of us do) to vote for him against our will to help fight an Obama win, which will admittedly be worse.
For my part, I still don’t think I can do it. I’ll compromise a lot to save lives, especially babies, but I remain unconvinced that a vote for McCain is really the right thing.
I’ll certainly grant that McCain isn’t really so strong on the abortion and ESCR issues. I don’t see much reason to fully trust him on the matter of appointments to SCOTUS and the Federal judiciary, either. Yet, it must always be understood: on both points, Obama will be a far worse disaster.
But, frankly, I don’t see the “life issues” as most paramount in discerning my view of this Presidential election: the President can’t do much if he has a ridiculously pro-abortion Senate to reckon with. Rather, the definitive issue in this election is the fact that we stand a real chance of electing someone with an indisputable Marxist pedigree, whose supporters behave in ways ominously reminiscent of those who historically lent themselves to being “foot soldiers” in a totalitarian regime! Our religious liberty, our practical ability to follow a sound Catholic conscience in the conduct of our lives and the rearing of our children are in clear and present danger. THAT is the real issue facing us here and now.
Have you seen those West Hollywood sodomites who’ve got Sarah Palin hanging in effigy? That’s no mere Halloween prank … that is an unsubtle admission by the partisans of perversion that they’d really like to hang her — and, by extension, anyone who identifies with her — if they got the chance. Look what happens to people just in this campaign who ask Obama or Biden uncomfortable questions … just wait until they get authority over those who wield the guns!!
A political climate that could make a winner of a would-be totalitarian Marxist regime is obviously one which is so degraded as to be incapable of rallying a principled opposition; the best this climate can produce is the kind of half-socialist that McCain, and arguably also Palin, is. For that same reason, it’s nearly impossible for anti-abortion purists to get any real traction. (How many votes has Keyes gotten when he’s run for anything??) So rather than bash McCain for being an inauthentic prolifer (and Palin for being an imperfect one), blame the spiritual deadness of the electorate, as Jeff Culbreath rightfully did not so long ago.
You’re probably right, Steve, that a vote for McCain is not the right thing, despite how horrible of a situation we’re in here. Just make sure that if you do vote third-party, you take the next step of writing to the Republican officials in your state and the national party, explaining (very briefly) why you couldn’t vote for McCain, and exactly what an acceptable candidate would look like next time around. Sure, it’s possible, even probable, that no one will read your letter, but it’s still important to let the Republican powers-that-be know exactly why they lost this one. They need some kind of encouragement to pull back to the right next time, rather than foolishly go seeking “centrist” votes by moving further left.
Having already mailed my absentee ballot, it’s time for me to start writing that letter myself.
What are the chances? Still greater than if abortion extremist Obama wins, and that’s still good enough for me.
Very well said, Somerset ‘76. There is a very real chance that a persecution will begin. So far we’ve seen a soft one; with Obama at the helm, it’ll be “Damn the torpedoes!”
So rather than bash McCain for being an inauthentic prolifer (and Palin for being an imperfect one), blame the spiritual deadness of the electorate, as Jeff Culbreath rightfully did not so long ago.
This is entirely correct, but it’s also why I’ve begun to be convinced that our participation in this process is a farce. There are just too few of us who see how deep it’s gotten. There are too many who believe that while not ideal, McCain is a perfectly acceptable choice.
And they are in the minority in comparison to those who treat Obama’s impending victory as the political second coming.
America wants this. We’ve been asking for it. We’ve been getting closer with every election. The best argument you can make is that voting for McCain buys time, stalling the inevitable. But how much time does it buy and ultimately, what do we gain by it - especially if they give us an even worse nominee next time?
If the people don’t change, this is all an exercise in futility. The next four years could be our wakeup call. I hope so.
Are we all this naive? “Persecution” - “Damn the Torpedoes”- “A Wake-up call.” Was anyone old enough to have been around for the Clinton administration? The pro-life movement thought the exact same way as I am reading here. The thought was that after a Clinton administration the eyes would be opened and there would be some sense of urgency not to repeat the same mistake. The only thing the Clinton years did was put us back 20 years and desensitized the NATION towards abortion….oh yeah it also provided the freedom of choice, partial birth abortion act to the equation that took Bush 2 until 2003 to ban. Obama is a big fan of infanticide so he will surely one up Bill Clinton. Please continue to sit on your hands and live in a fantasy world. Sounds to me like we all want to protect the unborn here so why don’t you get out and vote for McCain – if not get used to blogging about how horrible infanticide is and continue to do nothing but sit on the sidelines and blog to the choir.
“… Sounds to me like we all want to protect the unborn here so why don’t you get out and vote for McCain – if not get used to blogging about how horrible infanticide is and continue to do nothing but sit on the sidelines and blog to the choir.”
For the record, and sorry if my first response didn’t hint at it: I’m voting McCain-Palin: not so much “for” them as in the spirit of NOBAMA. I’m even going to the Palin rally in Richmond in a couple of days and do a little volunteering for the ticket as well.