In the general election campaign, Republican nominee John McCain will rely on his maverick status to appeal to independent voters for support.
But as his record becomes more widely examined and as he more closely identifies himself with the Bush agenda, it is becoming clear that he has little in common with independents. This is no more evident than on the issue of reproductive rights for women.
The National Abortion Rights Action League or NARAL, has launched an online campaign to help voters get to know the real John McCain. According to their new web site MeetTheRealMccain.com, John McCain is committed to overturning a woman's right to choose to be pregnant by installing far-right judges to the federal judiciary and US Supreme Court.
According to the web site, McCain's anti-choice credentials include voting 125 out of 130 times against a woman's right to choose. He has voted repeatedly to restrict access to abortion care and against measures to prevent unintended pregnancy.
John McCain backed George W. Bush's "global gag rule" which prohibits federally funded family-planning clinics from giving women full information about their reproductive-health options. He co-sponsored the Federal Abortion Ban and
backed anti-choice Supreme Court Justices like Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas.
Indeed, McCain's support for government interference in the private health matters of women seems to be the only consistent position he has maintained over the course of his decades in Washington.
A recent press statement by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America points out that McCain's anti-choice, anti-women positions put him more in lockstep with the far-right of the Republican party than with most Americans.
While McCain wants to present himself as some sort of maverick who appeals to independents, most independents, by almost two-to-one favor abortion rights for women. And about three-in-four voters overall support making access to contraceptives easier for women.
McCain's beliefs make him politically resemble George W. Bush and the far right of the political spectrum more than most Americans, let alone the vast majority of independent voters.
