NPR noted in February, “Many Republican voters seem to believe, incorrectly, that the current Republican front-runner, Arizona Senator John McCain, supports abortion rights.”<\/p>\n
It’s not just Republican voters. McCain has been hailed for so long, by so many news outlets, as a “moderate” willing to break with GOP orthodoxy, a lot of voters just assume he must support reproductive rights. Some even go so far as to hear McCain’s pro-life rhetoric, and assume he doesn’t really mean it<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, what happens when Americans learn that McCain is unwavering far-right Republican on the issue? Kevin noted<\/a> a new poll<\/a> of battleground states from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner:<\/p>\n * Once balanced information about Obama and McCain’s respective positions on choice is introduced, Obama gains 6 points overall, with his lead in battleground states expanding from a net 2 points (47-45 percent) to a net 13 points (53-40 percent). <\/p>\n * The issue of choice moves the swing vote and generates crossover support. Obama gains 13 points among pro-choice Independent women (who make up 9 percent of this electorate) and 9 points among pro-choice Republican women (who account for 5 percent of this electorate). When these groups are combined, this movement equates to a gain of 1.6 points overall in the general election race against McCain<\/i>. <\/p>\n * Choice can also help Obama consolidate his base — Obama gains 6 points among Democratic women after balanced descriptions of the candidates’ positions on choice is introduced. <\/p>\n * Despite the fact that the national focus seems to be on the economy, among pro-choice Independent women, pro-choice Republican women, and liberal to moderate Republican women, the issue of abortion produces a larger advantage for Democrats than the economy, the war in Iraq, or health care. Moreover, among these three groups critiques on McCain’s anti-choice position are the strongest attacks against him, trumping attacks on the economy, the war, and special interests.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If accurate, this not only suggests plenty of lingering confusion about McCain’s position on the issue, but more importantly, a significant drop in McCain’s support after people learn what he actually believes. The goal, then, is just to let voters hear about McCain’s stated position on the issue. This kind of stuff is more than normally tricky, since you can almost always get a fair number of people to change their view by reading some carefully chosen critiques of whatever issue you’re polling about. Still, in this case GQR’s statement was fairly straightforward: Obama believes abortion is a personal decision and supports Roe v. Wade, while McCain is pro-life and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. All by itself, that produced a 6-point swing.<\/p>\n Abortion is unlikely to be a major issue in this year’s election, but it’s not a big effort to simply make sure that voters know McCain’s actual position: He thinks abortion should be illegal, and if he becomes president he’ll do his best to appoint Supreme Court justices who think so too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nKevin added:<\/p>\n