God-o-Meter knew John McCain's comments about possibly picking pro-choice running mate wouldn't be taken lightly by the Christian Right. Here's an email GOM received last night from Family Research Council Action senior vice president Connie Mackey, comparing what McCain said this week to comments he made in April that seemed to rule out a pro-choice vice presidential pick:
He said clearly that it would be difficult to choose someone like Ridge because the Republican Party is a pro-life party and he went a bit further stating that he too was pro life...It seems odd that McCain continues to run away from his prolife base when Obama has lied repeatedly about his voting record on abortion in order that he appeal to this Republican base.
If he's gonna wind up picking a pro-life running mate anyway--and GOM predicts that he will, lest the Christian Right go from ambivalent about his nomination to apoplectic--why would McCain needlessly rankle Christian conservatives? Was this a calculated reminder from McCain of his non-ideological ways, for the benefit of independent voters? Or was he just being clumsy, still unaware about what really sets off the Christian Right and the potential costs of doing so after years of campaigning for president?
Here's what Family Research Council Action sent to supporters last night:
How to Lose an Election in 83 Days
Both presidential campaigns are talking about abortion, but unfortunately neither seems to be getting it right. On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is trying to mask his strident pro-abortion views. First they drafted the Democratic Party Platform using flowery language that made the party's stance on abortion even more prominent, while hiding it behind empty rhetoric that claims, "The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child." Now the Democratic Party has chosen as one of its highlight speakers a self-described pro-life Senator, Bob Casey (D-Penn.). When you consider Senator Casey voted for taxpayer funding for groups that perform coercive abortions, one would think he is a poor choice to counter Presidential nominee Barack Obama, who is unquestionably one of the most militant pro-abortion nominees either party has ever nominated. The Republican Party fares just as poorly following comments by their nominee, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), that he would consider nominating a pro-choice politician for Vice President. This counters statements that the Senator gave at Villanova University earlier this year, comments that garnered him a standing ovation from that audience. Beyond the choice of his running mate, Senator McCain's comments raise questions about the type of individuals he would appoint to other important positions like HHS Secretary and even judgeships.
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I presume all this postering by the Family Research Council is simply to try to influence McCain to flip back after his flop and choose a "pro-life" candidate. But, I'm not sure what difference it will make...they are Republicans and will simply vote for a Republican candidate.
What's interesting is that for years, pro-life groups have been telling people that you simply cannot, ever vote for a pro-choice candidate. We were told that you could not vote for evil. There was no way to justify such a vote...until now, of course, when they will vote for McCain. If they were true to their values, shouldn't they not vote for McCain. Oh yes, he's more pro-life than Obama, but we were told that there could be no justification for voting for someone who was not 100% pro-life. I guess it's all relative, something we were told it could never be.
I once read that Republicans will never overturn Roe vs Wade because saying they are pro life gives Republicans a strong base with right wing Christians. Forget poverty, the environment, etc. As long as Republicans state that they are against gay marriage and abortion, a large number of Christians will blindly follow whichever Republican candidate is on the ballot. I wish that more Christians would remember when Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them." If the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control, many Republicans do not measure up and they would find many Democrats are most Christ-like.
Amen DEEG.
And Barack Obama, under the most severe provovation in the primaries and now, has only rarely slipped. His behaviour, his posture has been of all that is best in a Christian man. Thoughtful, kind, forgiving, quick to apologize when wrong, respectful. That is the fruits of the spirit coming forward.
I think McCain's choice of Sarah [princess in Hebrew]Palin reveals a significant distiction between the souls of the two political parities. What's evident from the Democrat poster boy is another lunge at class warfare--as Obama as a Lennin-like messiah, contrasted to a kind of surviving spiritual idealism in Republican Party leadership. It's the kind of idealism that first surfaced with the Puritan/Pilgrims in 1620.
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