IF McCAIN WERE A WOMAN HE'D PROBABLY HAVE A DIFFERENT AGENDA REGARDING CHOICE

On the way to the airport after my trip to Washington last week, Jane suggested we stop at the DNC for a press conference Howard Dean was giving. People in DC get such great free entertainment. Like I mentioned when I got back, Howard was talking about polling results that showed how totally out of touch the Inside the Beltway media fraternity is about their boy McCain. Polling shows that most Americans don't know what he stands for and certainly haven't bought into the "maverick" and "moderate" hype. But of all the facts and figures Howard and the pollsters gave us, nothing was more fascinating than the shock experienced by moderate women who were told what McCain's actual voting record has been on matters of choice (one of the few positions on which he hasn't been flip flopping-- at least not in recent years while he was plotting his presidential ambitions.) Here, look at this voting record. That zero means he has never voted for anything remotely pro-choice. 15 roll calls and he's been anti-choice on every single one of them-- and 100% anti-contraception as well.

A few days ago at Salon Joe Conason examined McCain's fake moderation in relation to reproductive rights for women. Referring to the same data the DNC had presented, based on focus groups of women from West Virginia and Minnesota, Conason notes that the participants-- even pro-life women-- "were surprised, dismayed and angered to learn that the Arizona Republican not only favors overturning the Roe v. Wade decision and curtailing abortion rights but is also opposed to requiring contraceptive coverage by health plans and favors abstinence-only sex education." His attitudes were described by the women as "unrealistic," "out of touch" and "stuck in the past." That pretty much sums John W. McCain up-- across the board, no matter what issue you look at.

But Cliff Schecter's new book, The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn't goes all the way back to a period when McCain was flip flopping all over the place on abortion.

Flip (1999): "I'd love to see a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force x number of women to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

Flop (2006): On Meet The Press trying to lure the Religious Right onto the Double Talk Express he said that he'd "always been pro-life, unchanging and unwavering." Always. There are only 3 ways to interpret those two quotes:

1- senile
2- liar
3- both

Like with his economic and foreign policies, McCain is firmly grounded in the 19th century, not the 21st. Sex-- aside from the kind that elderly multimillionaire philanderers have with lobbyists-- should be all about abstinence... or whatever Bush says it should be. Great ready to throw up:

On these issues [sex education and contraceptives] McCain might, in other words, think for himself. Instead he merely parrots the extremists of the far right, who vainly hope to prevent sex but in fact promote teenage pregnancy-- and abortion as well as sexually transmitted disease-- by blocking contraception and sex education. He simply doesn't care about the toxic effect of these policies on young women. He prefers mindless posturing to thoughtful policymaking, as he demonstrated a year ago when he fumbled reporters' questions about condoms, contraception and AIDS, both in Africa and the United States, in a series of startling exchanges on his campaign bus.

Would he support taxpayer funding for contraception in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS? McCain initially replied that he preferred a program of abstinence education but would provide condoms in places where abstinence "was not being followed," that is, where sex is happening, which is everywhere. That was a stupid answer, which he credited to Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., his ultraright mentor on issues of reproductive rights and health.

Moments later, he wanted to amend his answer. "Let me think about it a little bit... I don't know if I would use taxpayers' money... I'm not informed enough on it. Let me find out... I'm sure I have taken a position on it in the past ... I have to find out my position on it ... I am sure I am opposed to government funding. I am sure I support the president's policy on it." (Whatever! -- as his bottle-blond, Tupac-listening teenage daughter might crack on her campaign blog.)

A reporter followed up by inquiring whether McCain supports sex education that candidly discusses contraception and preventing the spread of AIDS and other disease, or whether he backs President Bush's abstinence-only education program. After a long pause, he said, "I think I support the president's policy." Does he believe that contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV? After another long pause, he replied, "You've stumped me."

That was too bizarre for the startled journalist. "I mean, I think you'd probably agree it probably does help stop it?" Realizing how foolish he sounded, the senator had a ready quip. "Are we on the Straight Talk Express?" Still, he stuck to his muddled answer: "I'm not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I'm sure I've taken a position on it in the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception-- I'm sure I'm opposed to government spending on it, I'm sure I support the president's policies on it."

McCain doesn't give a damn about any of this-- or about the economy or about veteran's rights or about any of the issues concerning everyday Americans. It's all a bunch of boring, annoying crap he has to put up with before he gets his hands on the button and he gets to bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran. Be sure to read Schechter's book.