Free Republic

Top conservative activist and leader of the Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly — a legendary militant pro-lifer — reacted to John McCain's remark that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge's pro-choice position would not rule him out as a vice presidential running mate by telling Newsmax, "I think [McCain] would be making a mistake." Schlafly was not alone in warning McCain against picking Ridge or any other pro-choice advocate as his running mate. Other top conservative leaders chimed in, showing that McCain, already getting only grudging support from the GOP’s right wing, might drive conservatives to desert his cause and torpedo his...

John McCain's message machine shifted gears today -- after a week or so of offbeat efforts to annoy and exasperate Barack Obama, the Republican's campaign launched a new bid to distance himself from the titular head of his own party. A 60-second McCain television ad airing in several of this year's key battleground states seeks to both remind voters of the "maverick" image that gained him national prominence and undercut arguments that he's a President Bush clone. Indeed, the spot's third sentence offers this starkly negative assessment of the incumbent's second term: "We’re worse off than we were four years...

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) latest television ad says that the country is in worse shape now than it was before President Bush began his second term. “Washington’s broken. John McCain knows it,” the ad says. “We’re worse off than we were four years ago.” The ad, titled “Broken,” shows that McCain is, at least in part, running away from President Bush’s record and looking to win favor with the centrist voters who have supported him in the past. The ad, which is slated to run in key states, comes after Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) made...