McCain On Condom Use

Over the weekend, McCain fumbled a question on the Straight Talk Express concerning preventing the spread of HIV in Africa.

Per Adam Nagourney, on the Straight Talk Express, McCain was asked:

Reporter: “Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund contraception to prevent AIDS?”

Mr. McCain: “Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes – and I was just reading the thing he wrote– that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, than he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”

(Mr. McCain turns to take a question on Iraq, but a moment later looks back to the reporter who asked him about AIDS.)

Mr. McCain: “I haven’t thought about it. Before I give you an answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because I never got a question about it before. I don’t know if I would use taxpayers’ money for it.”

Later, McCain returned to the question and said:

"I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

The exchange concluded like this:

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

This went on for a few more moments until a reporter from the Chicago Tribune broke in and asked Mr. McCain about the weight of a pig that he saw at the Iowa State Fair last year.

In fact, McCain has been on the record advocating the use of condoms as recently as 2004 when he answered a question on the Vote-Smart.org questionnaire asking him "Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs fund distribution of contraceptives?" McCain answered "Yes"

And in 2002, on Meet the Press, McCain was asked:

MR. RUSSERT: What do you think of Colin Powell's comments about the use of condoms, encouraging sexually active young people to use them?

SEN. McCAIN: Oh, I agree with him. I think that he established the priorities correctly. We should emphasize, first of all, abstinence, faithfulness, but there are people in American society who are sexually active, and in the world. And when HIV/AIDS has reached an epidemic proportion, I think we need to use every means possible to try to eradicate this epidemic that has affected particularly Third World countries. But I do believe it's appropriate to emphasize abstinence and other ways, as well, and give them priority.

If McCain had not undergone such a hard shift to the right, then this might be forgiven as a simple misstatement. However, in the context of his similar moves on choice, Jerry Falwell, and the Bush Tax Cuts, his attempt to shade his record to appeal to the right wing is troubling.

Comments (1) «

Maybe its been a while since he's thought about sex period. Maybe he needs to talk with Bob Dole to see what's the latest advances for men their age. And he can mind his own business with regard to the rest of us?

1

SandyH on March 19, 2007 at 02:41 PM

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