According to pro-life activist Gerard V. Bradley is John McCain.
McCain is not the only pro-life candidate in the Republican field. There are — and were — others. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is rightly regarded as a champion of the unborn. He was no doubt the first choice of many ardent pro-life Republicans. But Brownback gave up his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago. Now he is backing McCain.
Of the remaining pro-life Republicans, none can match McCain’s record of opposing abortion. He has served in Congress for 24 years, and cast a lot of votes on abortion legislation during that time. His record is not merely exemplary — it is perfect. McCain’s votes on abortion really could not be better. A campaign advertisement in South Carolina says of John McCain: “Pro-life. Not just recently. Always. Never wavering.” The ad is true.
It is no criticism of any other pro-life candidate to say that McCain’s track record makes him the best of a small number of good choices. Mike Huckabee is a good man and solidly pro-life. I personally do not doubt the sincerity or depth of Mitt Romney’s present commitment to the unborn. But experience matters. Being battle-hardened in defense of life is a real plus. Twenty-four years of service at the national level — almost all of them in the Senate — make a big difference when we are talking about the next President, compared to candidates who have been small-state governors. There is no need to speculate or to rely upon promises or take matters on faith when it comes to McCain and abortion. He has demonstrated himself to be the best pro-life choice.
McCain’s only lapse was his openness to destroying “spare” embryos in fertility clinics that would not be implanted for their stem cells. Bradley here says that after he talked with him, McCain has changed his position and no longer supports that option.
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it would be great to see an election between mcCain and obama. issues oriented with minimal mudslinging. Maybe there would actually be an honest debate on abortion…..
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I urge all pro-life readers of this post to also read the entire article by Prof. Bradley, which Dr. Veith has conveniently linked at the beginning of the post. For me, at least, the article highlights what distinguishes McCain from most other politicians.
I think McCain tries to live by his principles. He is famous for his willingness to put his life on the line to defend our country, and then endure 5 1/2 years of torture rather than betray it, or his fellow prisoners. He is less famous for adopting an orphan and placing another.
I know that talk radio pundits hate McCain, but you have to remember that talk radio is just that: talk. Anybody can talk. It is so rare that a politician also walks the walk.
I know McCain’s “walk” includes a number of wrong turns, but I believe that McCain’s frustration with other “conservatives” who talk a good game but are living like liberals personally, or have been corrupted by greed, is the source of many of those wrong turns. Sometimes this also makes him come off as self-righteous. But I am becoming a little frustrated myself with “conservatives” who see a corrupt game and seem perfectly happy to play it as it is, rather than try to make it better.
I am rapidly becoming convinced that we will be better off with someone who tries to live by conservative and Christian principles, even though he occasionly fails, than someone who talks a more consistently conservative/family values game.
And yet, McCain never focuses on these pro-life issues in his public discourse. Even in the current campaign his emphasis seems to be addressing global warming. His major past legislative efforts have been McCain-Feingold (destruction of the 1st Amendment right to free political speech) and McCain-Kennedy immigrant legalization efforts. The stem cell embryo misstep is another recent example. Where is the advocacy on behalf of life? As president, it is not enough that he has a great voting record on life issues. The question is, how will he lead, and how will he manage his time while in office? Which issues will he pursue?
So far, McCain seems to offer an ability to be many things to many people. He’s a one-man cafeteria–he offers lots that’s good for you, lots of bad caloric content, lots that’s just bland, and lots of things I’d just as soon not have to swallow.
I don’t want an all-of-the-above kind of president, or even a one-of-each.
Further to my comment at #7 above, concerning McCain’s real priorities (and they are not pro-life):
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmVhYjdlYzJjNzI0NGE2MjRlYTNlMDc0ZDlkZGVhNTg=
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