mccain-lieberman2.thumbnail.jpg When John McCain appeared on stage at the Saddleback Church last Saturday, he gave the audience of 5000 evangelical Christians the answer they wanted to hear on abortion:

WARREN: Some people, people who believe that life begins at conception, believe that's a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?

MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (APPLAUSE). I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That's my commitment. That's my commitment to you.

If McCain is going to be such a pro-life president, why is the tepidly pro-choice Joe Lieberman heavily favored to become McCain's VP?

McCain's Saddleback remarks made headlines nationwide, but as Media Matters observes, the established media hasn't followed up on the logical implications of McCain's comments.

In 2000, McCain said that if his daughter wanted an abortion, he would call a family conference to discuss the matter. Hardly the response you'd expect from someone who regards abortion as murder, unless McCain family meetings are like Corleone family meetings.

If McCain really believes that a fertilized egg has human rights, why hasn't he introduced legislation to ban IUDs, devices that block fertilized eggs from becoming pregnancies?

Maybe because he's a complete hypocrite.

Unfortunately, many liberals mistake McCain's vacillation for moderation when it comes to abortion. My snarky header notwithstanding, it's not like he's somehow secretly pro-choice and just saying he's against abortion to get votes. Everything he says is for votes.

Those who have studied McCain's record closely, like journalist Sarah Blustain agree that McCain is basically hostile to reproductive rights.

More often than not, McCain says he's in favor of embryonic stem cell research--provided he's not at Saddleback Church, in which case every stem cell is a sacred human baby.

The fact that most anti-choicers are happy to vote for McCain suggests that they don't take the "embryo killing is murder" hyperbole seriously either.

We know John McCain will say whatever it takes to get elected. If he's president, he won't hesitate to sacrifice women's rights or scientific progress for political points, either.

Update: Campaign Silo reached Sarah Blustain for comment about McCain's reproduction rhetoric on the campaign trail since her influential article was published in the New Republic.

 Blustain wasn't surprised by McCain's Saddleback performance, she's seen him pull that routine many times over the years:

"What [McCain] said at Saddleback reverted to standard talking points of this campaign, and completely bears out his record (and the story in TNR). But he can't have it both ways forever. When, for instance, he's standing before the country in a debate and they want to know whether reasonable minds can differ on abortion, and whether he will promote policies of inclusiveness regarding the Republican party and, more importantly, policies that consider the humanity of women, he will not be able to take both positions. Each positions holds risks for him, and it's really a question of the numbers, which is nearly unknowable. Which, in my humble and completely unpolltested opinion, is why he'd be better off being true to his beliefs and seeming genuine, rather than humiliate himself doing contortions to get into positions he doesn't believe in."

Blustain says she was surprised to see McCain testing the waters for a pro-choice VP pick. She suspects he's trying to recapture some of his pre-2000 reputation as a moderate on reproductive rights.