McCain To Accept Extreme Right Wing Position On Abortion

So according to ABC News, John McCain is probably going to stand by the Republican platform that calls for banning abortion even in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.

I think this will poke a rather large hole in his whole "maverick" image:

A senior Republican close to McCain told ABC News that building a more inclusive GOP is a top priority for the Arizona senator.

But this adviser does not see changing the party platform to include exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother as necessary for achieving that vision.

The problem for McCain, however, is that he excoriated then-Gov. George W. Bush during a 2000 debate for not being willing to make this change to the platform, and Democrats are salivating at the prospect of arguing, in the words of one strategist, "that another four years of Bush begins with another four years of Bush's platform."

....

"If he doesn't change the platform, then he's being the same kind of hypocrite that he accused Bush of being in 2000," said Jennifer Blei Stockman, the co-chairwoman of Republican Majority for Choice. "To not accept abortion in cases of rape and incest, give me a break. That's sick. That's inhumane."

"And the life of the mother?" she added. "These are things that we can't even put our arms around because they are so inhumane."

I question the intelligence of anyone who is pro-choice and Republican, since eliminating choice is one of its number one goals of the party. It's like being for drug decriminalization, gay marriage, honest government or balanced budgets while voting for a Republican. It's dumb and counter-productive.

But you can see the sticky spot McCain is in. Either he sticks to his word (and stated position) and changes the Republican platform, or he flip-flops and keeps it as is. Either way he will lose a whole pile of votes. He'd probably lose more votes by going "soft" on abortion, so expect him to leave the platform as is. Maybe Jennifer Blei Stockman and other pro-choice Republicans should just re-register as a Democrat. They'd fit in a lot better on this side of the aisle.