Pro-life groups choose McCain (Wisconsin Right To Life Leader)
Washington Times ^ | 2/18/08
“He is pro-life in his heart of hearts, in my opinion,” said Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican and a pro-life movement leader, who said Mr. McCain’s commitment stretches back across decades of votes in the House and Senate.
“When you contrast him with the alternative and you think about such things as Supreme Court appointments, McCain is a far better choice,” said Barbara L. Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, an organization that took Mr. McCain all the way to the Supreme Court over his campaign-finance laws, and won.
“From my perspective, I see him as someone we can enthusiastically support, and I look forward to his getting elected,” Mr. Jakubczyk (president of Arizona Right to Life) said, adding they have endorsed Mr. McCain every time he has run in Arizona.
“I have been on the campaign trail, I have been at meetings with him, I have been at organization and party gatherings, the issue with him is very clear that he’s pro-life,” (Jan Brewer, Arizona Secretary of State) said.
For Matt Salmon, a strong pro-life advocate and former congressman from Arizona, there’s no doubt where Mr. McCain comes down.
“I have been with John McCain through thick and thin. This is a man I truly believe in, and I could not be as supportive as I am if I thought there was any ounce of equivocation,” he said.
Mr. Salmon said that was solidified during his 1994 campaign for Congress when he was the only pro-life candidate in a crowded field of Republicans. “He endorsed me in that primary, and he told me the reason he did was because of my pro-life stance,” Mr. Salmon said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1972225/posts
A revealing observation was made on February 8 by Steven Brill, editor of the magazine Brill’s Content, which covers the news media.
Speaking on the Fox News Channel program “The Edge”, Brill said two reporters covering the McCain campaign told him, “You know, he really doesn’t feel that strongly about abortion and about — he isn’t really as pro-gun as he lets on in the campaign. He has to do that because it’s a Republican primary, but he’s kind of let us know that he’s not that hard-edged on those subjects.”
Brill went on, “The point I’m making is that he was given permission, at least by these two guys [journalists], to pander. One of them actually said, ‘At least when McCain panders he sort of lets us know he’s doing it, and he kind of winks and kind of enjoys it, so he’s a good guy.’ Well, he’s not letting the rest of the country know he’s pandering.”
In the same vein, liberal Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen wrote on December 15, “McCain’s people whisper, Don’t worry. He’s not really so anti-abortion.”