Ugh, courtesy of Yahoo! News and the Associated Press:
"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the
Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the
early voting states.
McCain also vowed that if elected, he would appoint judges who
"strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not
legislate from the bench."
I admit it: I used to kind of like John McCain. Long, long ago, he was a breath of fresh (relative) moderateness in the ever-Rightening Republican Party. He opposed major Republicans on a number of issues that had wide popular support (such as campaign finance reform, which I think we can all get behind), and always seemed to have high approval ratings within his constituency. That changed in the 2000 primaries, when remarks he made to a San Francisco newspaper got him in hot water with the fundamentalists. Evidently, not thinking that existing case law that has been governing the land for the past three decades ought to be overturned is proof that he didn't hate women enough to be a good Republican candidate. Bush II won the primaries, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Ever since then, McCain's been hastening to toe the party line at every available opportunity. Not only has he taken to parroting the usual anti-choice nonsense, every time he steps out of line and gets called out by his party superiors, he recants almost immediately and goes rushing back to the fold. And people called Kerry a flip-flopper. This guy's a regular Mexican Jumping Bean. I'd find it amusing if it weren't so obviously indicative of the sad state of affairs in American party politics. At the end of the day, I don't like McCain's post-2000 uber-Conservative transformation (although it ultimately benefits liberals) and I think it's really unfortunate. Even though I've never been a huge fan of McCain's politics, I could always respect him for following the wishes of his constituency and not being afraid to take a stance that was unpopular within his party.
So much for that.