McCain Promises No Roe Litmus Test

As reported by Mark Impomeni last week, a group of Hillary Clinton's largest donors met with McCain campaign adviser Carly Fiorina to discuss the possibility of supporting the presumptive Republican nominee.

The Political Machine has learned, through sources inside the negotiations, that among other concessions, McCain has promised that he will not nominate judges using Roe v Wade as a litmus test.

This stands in stark contrast to McCain's stated position, from his online platform:

Overturning Roe v. Wade

John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.

Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states.

That begs the question is McCain placating the right, while winking at the left, or vice-versa?

It also contradicts McCain's more recent banging of the pro-life gong on the stump. From The Baptist Press:

In addition to speaking more about abortion, McCain also has increasingly underscored his goal of nominating federal judges, particularly Supreme Court justices, who won't in his words "legislate from the bench." That's music to conservatives' ears, since the two oldest members of the court -- 88-year-old John Paul Stevens and 75-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- are two of its most liberal members and support Roe v. Wade. McCain favors repealing Roe. Some legal analysts believe the nine-member court is only one vote away from having a pro-life majority.

A flip of this magnitude could cost McCain dearly with right-wing voters, while gaining him little with centrist or liberal voters, particularly women. If McCain is willing to agree to one thing on his online platform, while secretly promising the opposite, which group should believe him?

The source also said that McCain has promised to "appoint more women to cabinet positions than any administration in history."

The group of Clinton supporters, once part of a consortium called The Group, are trying to negotiate concessions from both parties on a variety of issues concerning women in power and combating sexism.

Although the source says they have gotten more concessions out of the Republicans so far, they also had farther to go. Of the 88 women serving in Congress (16.4%), 63 of them are Democrats, while 25 are Republicans.


In my view, unless the Republicans bring a lot more to the table, this group should withhold its support. Appointing and electing women who will "behave" is all too easy, and no guarantee at all to have a positive effect on women's lives. As far as Roe, that promise is as good as the website it isn't written on.

The McCain campaign was not available for comment.