pro-choice

GOP presidential candidate John McCain campaigns in New Jersey last February with Sen. Joe Lieberman: Getty Images Photo
Two pro-choice names floated as potential vice-president picks for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain have caused a lot of grumbling among conservatives nationwide, but some of the most ardently pro-life members of the delegation representing New Jersey at next month's Republican National Convention were circumspect on the prospects.

While McCain has pledged to run a "pro-life administration" if elected, his campaign has floated trial balloons about U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Thomas Ridge as possible Veep picks, both of whom are pro-choice.

While some pro-life delegation members would prefer to see a fully anti-abortion ticket, none were committed to casting a protest vote against a pro-choice McCain pick.  Still, some of them cautiously suggested that McCain would be wise not to alienate the socially conservative wing of the party, including the evangelical voters who he's had trouble courting in the past.

"I don't from a tactical standpoint see the gain other than maybe he's trying to reach moderate Democrat voters and take them from Barack by putting Lieberman there," said Assemblywoman Allison Littell McHose (R-Franklin), a delegate who sits on the convention's platform committee.    "But I think when you have a Republican base that would probably not traditionally vote for a guy like Lieberman, I don't know why McCain would need to do that."

With rumors floating around about the potential that U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will pick a running mate who supports abortion rights, many on the right, like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and thes supporters of Mike Huckabee, are speaking up to make it clear to McCain that they would not tolerate such a choice.

However at least one of Washington state's delegates to the Republican National Convention, Catherine Brazil, who considers herself to be more than mildly conservative, does not put herself in that camp. Brazil, who is a state committeewoman from Spokane, believes that having someone who is ready to be president from day one is far more important than any one issue, and that economic and national security far outweigh issues like abortion that have no bearing on a president's main duties.