James Dobson seems unaware that John McCain and Sarah Palin have diverged from the Republican platform. In his new interview of Sarah Palin, he gushes about how pro-life the Republican platform is. “The Republican Platform is the strongest pro-life, pro-family document to come out of a political party, even more so than the platforms during the campaigns of Ronald Reagan.” (He right about that.) He then asks whether McCain (whom Dobson has distrusted in the past) really supports the platform. Palin vouches for McCain. “I am such a strong believer that McCain believes in those strong planks,” she says.
I don’t want to be in the room when someone breaks it to Dr. Dobson that McCain and Palin have departed from the platform in the last two months in significant ways.
Constitutional Amendment – The Republican platform calls for a “human life amendment,” a national ban on abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. But for the past two months neither McCain nor Palin have mentioned the amendment. Indeed, they’ve stressed a states rights position that would make it perfectly possible for many states to continue to allow legal abortion. “States should be able to decide that issue,” Palin said. “I believe that if Roe v. Wade were overturned then the states would make these decisions ,” McCain said.
The Rape Exception — Asked by Katie Couric if abortion in the case of rape should be illegal, Palin said she would “counsel” the woman “to choose life.” That’s a pro-choice position. The platform calls for an outright ban, including in cases of rape and incest.
Right to Privacy — Republicans oppose Roe v. Wade because the Justices found a “right to privacy” where none had previously been thought to exist. That’s the foundation of “abortion rights.” Sarah Palin says the Constitution does contain a right to privacy.
Stem Cell Resesarch — The Republican platform this year called for a ban on all embryonic stem cell research. But the McCain campaign ran a radio ad declaring: “John McCain will lead his congressional allies to improve America’s health. Stem-cell research to unlock the mystery of cancer, diabetes, heart disease. Stem-cell research to help free families from the fear and devastation of illness. Stem-cell research to help doctors repair spinal cord damage, knee injuries, serious burns. Stem-cell research to help stroke victims.” Technically, the ad doesn’t specify whether he meant embryonic stem cell but usually when politicians hit stem-cell research so hard they mean embryonic unless they specify otherwise.
Will anyone tell Dr. Dobson?