Well
this kind of puts Mitt Romney in a bind, doesn't it?
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said on CNN on Wednesday that his support for Richard Mourdock was dependent on an apology from the Republican Senate candidate for his remarks that pregnancies caused by rape are intended by God.
"It depends on what he does," McCain said on "Anderson Cooper 360." He was answering a question about whether he still considered himself in Mourdock's corner after the comments on rape and pregnancy, which came at a debate Tuesday.
"If he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong and asks the people to forgive him, I would be the first," the 2008 presidential nominee said.
Of course, Mourdock
hasn't come close to apologizing for what he said. Instead, he's defended it, saying anyone who listened to him knows what he meant.
Despite that defiant response, I imagine McCain will get a ton of pressure from the Romney campaign to reverse himself and endorse Mourdock, but if that happens, it will merely underscore the extent to which Mitt Romney is willing to move the Republican Party to the right in order to support his political ambitions. Certainly, it won't change the contrast between McCain's first reaction—to personally condemn Mourdock and to demand Mourdock recant his views—and Romney's first reaction, which was to have an aide issue a milquetoast comment about how he "disagrees" with Mourdock but will continue to support him.
Meanwhile, even as Romney continues to support Mourdock, President Obama is blasting Mourdock's remarks, telling Jay Leno on the The Tonight Show that the comments are a reminder of why it's so important to defend Roe v. Wade and reproductive freedom. "This is exactly why you don't want a bunch of politicians—mostly male—making decisions about women's health care decisions," he said.
And you need look no further than John McCain's initial reaction to see how extremely wrong Richard Mourdock and Mitt Romney are on that question.
::
Sign up to help get Democratic voters to the polls in swing states with Workers' Voice, the largest independent Democratic voter turnout operation in the country. You can participate no matter where you live.
::
7:41 AM PT: Haha, as I predicted, McCain was forced to clarify.
McCain sends statement clarifying support for Mourdock. Spox says he had missed Mourdock's apology at press conference.
— @FixAaron via Seesmic twhirl
Mourdock didn't apologize. McCain's statement is baloney—it's just more evidence of the right-wing Romney-Mourdock-Ryan-Akin grip on the GOP.