The popularity trail

Looks like McCain is "firming" up his base more than firming up his stance on life.

John McCain Favors Overturning Supreme Court's Roe Abortion Decision

McCain appeared then to be changing his position from a 1999 statement he gave to the San Francisco Chronicle in which he said he didn't support repealing Roe.

"I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary," McCain told the newspaper at the time. "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 in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

Sounds more like "I say I am pro-life right now so I can get your votes. But please don't make me think about it too much.

McCain has typically voted pro-life on abortion-related issues while serving in the Senate, including voting in March 2003 against an amendment to the partial-birth abortion ban that endorsed the Roe v. Wade decision.

However, McCain voted last year in favor of a bill forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research and he upset pro-life groups by sponsoring a major campaign finance reform bill that contained several restrictions on what they could do during elections.

Enter this as evidence that words don't mean anything without the actions to back them up. It is easy to vote for a pro-life bill that is not going to pass anyway. But the true colors show on the more obscure bills.

Meanwhile, according to an AP report, during his campaign stop over the weekend, McCain also appeared at an abstinence education rally with more than 1,000 participants. He said that today's youth face more pressures than he and his generation did when they were growing up.

This is a positive note, but again, when one sponsors a bill that will restrict how pro-life groups may participate in campaigns, it rings a bit hollow.