McCain Takes the Gold in Political Freestyle Flip-Flop

McCain Takes the Gold in “Political Freestyle Flip-Flop”
of Olympic Season
McCain now claims he is open to a pro-choice running mate

Washington, DC – Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said Sen. McCain’s comment yesterday about considering pro-choice running mates is a complete flip-flop from his statements a few months ago. On April 15, 2008 during an interview on Hardball with Chris Matthews, McCain said “it would be difficult” to have a pro-choice running mate. Yesterday, aboard his campaign plane, McCain told Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard, that he is open to choosing a pro-choice running mate.

“Sen. McCain appears to have caught Olympic fever with the freestyle flip-flop he’s attempting to pull off with his hints about the possibility of a pro-choice running mate,” Keenan said. “Pro-choice Americans know that this flip-flop is not indicative of a policy shift or a reverse course for the anti-choice and anti-birth control McCain. It is clear that McCain is nervous about his diminishing support among Independent women, a key voting bloc that will likely determine the outcome of this election. McCain knows he needs pro-choice Independent and Republican women to win in November, but his extreme position on a woman’s right to choose makes it increasingly difficult to attract these voters.”

Recent polling conducted by Lifetime Networks showed that Obama leads McCain among Independent women by a 12-point margin. NARAL Pro-Choice America’s own polling in 12 battleground states earlier this summer showed Obama and McCain virtually tied among all Independent women. But, when given information about the candidates’ positions on a woman’s right to choose, Obama gains 14 points over McCain. And among pro-choice Independent women, the lead climbs to 40 points. In fact, among all groups of women voters – pro-choice Republicans, non-college educated women, older women and suburban women – Obama gains votes and McCain loses them based solely on the issue of a woman’s right to choose.

“Let’s face it – Sen. McCain is basically President George W. Bush on steroids,” Keenan continued. “McCain has consistently gone even further than Bush by calling for the overturn of Roe v. Wade. McCain has said he would appoint pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, while Bush wouldn’t admit to an abortion litmus test for his nominees. McCain’s 30-year anti-choice-voting record is anti-family planning, anti-sex education, and anti-birth control, and that is one political, Olympic style move that pro-choice Americans will see right through at the ballot box in November.”

For more information on McCain’s anti-choice record, please visit www.MeetTheRealMcCain.com.