McCain faces tough questions on abortion on U.S. TV
12 Sep 2008 20:03:31 GMT Source: Reuters
By Jason Szep NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain courted female voters on Friday with appearances on TV shows popular with women, but prompted boos from a studio audience while stressing opposition to abortion. In reply to a question on ABC television talk show "The View," McCain told the five women hosts and its live studio audience that he believed the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of abortion 35 years ago was a mistake. "I believe Roe v Wade was a very bad decision, it was a bad decision," he said of the 1973 decision that established a woman's right to an abortion. The mostly female audience, who had cheered many of the Arizona senator's earlier comments, responded with boos to that reply. The question was posed by host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, an abortion opponent and supporter of the Iraq war who told McCain that he had her vote in his close race against Democratic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Nov. 4 election for the White House. He also faced pointed questions about his selection of little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate and the McCain campaign's attempts to portray their ticket as true agents of change in the election. Host Barbara Walters interrupted McCain several times to pin down what in Washington the 44-year-old self-described "hockey mom" and conservative first-term governor of Alaska would reform. "The Republican Party. The Democratic Party. She's going to reform all of Washington," McCain said. "What specifically?" Walters pressed, noting that McCain's own party occupies the White House and has been in power in Congress for much of the past eight years. McCain won applause when speaking about his belief in God and in the separation of church and state enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Host Whoopi Goldberg, an Oscar-winning actress, asked if religion would guide him as president. "Everyone, obviously, is entitled to their own faith," McCain said. "I pray every day for guidance and to do the right thing." McCain has aggressively courted undecided and independent women voters, holding a round-table with women in the largely Democratic city of Philadelphia on Wednesday and appearing on two TV shows popular with women on Friday After going on "The View," he taped the "Rachael Ray Show," a popular daytime talk show and life style program where he fielded questions in a studio kitchen and grilled ribs while dressed in an apron that read "kiss the candidate." The show will air Sept. 22. The appearances are aimed in part at drawing disaffected supporters of Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who lost a bruising primary to Obama. McCain said he and his wife, Cindy, who also appeared on "The View," did not share Palin's more conservative view that there should not be exceptions to his stand on abortion in cases of rape and incest. A Washington Post/ABC News survey published on Tuesday found much of McCain's improvement in the polls since the Republican National Convention ended Sept. 4 was due to a big shift in support among white women voters. (Editing by David Wiessler)
Iraq's Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi gestures as speaks during the opening of a government hospital in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, September 11, 2008. Picture taken September 11, 2008. ...
