Possible McCain VP Pawlenty Would be Surprised By Pro-Abortion Running Mate
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 28, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is one of just a few people on Senator John McCain’s short list for vice president. Pawlenty is strongly pro-life on both abortion and bioethics issues and he says he would be "surprised" if McCain picked a running mate who doesn’t share his pro-life views.
McCain has a starkly different position on abortion compared with Barack Obama — by virtue of his pro-life abortion voting record and his favoring the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
McCain said during the evangelical forum two weeks ago that he would have a pro-life administration as president.
As a result, Pawlenty, told a television station he can’t imagine McCain going with a running mate like Sen. Joe Lieberman or former Gov. Tom Ridge, both of whom are pro-abortion and have received significant media attention.
“John McCain has said he wants a senior team in his administration that reflects his values, his priorities,” Pawlenty said on MSNBC. “He’s solidly pro-life. So I think he’s going to have a team that reflects that.”
Pawlenty said it would be “hard on the Republican Party,” if McCain chose a running mate who is “pro-choice or somebody who was … still caucusing with the Democratic Party.”
The two-term Republican governor is thought to be, along with former GOP candidate and governor Mitt Romney, the most likely selection for McCain, who may reveal his choice as early as this evening.
The 47-year-old governor is intriguing to national pundits because he is a conservative who rose to prominence in a state dominated by progressives. However, Pawlenty has done well in part because he has attracted Democrats in a state where large numbers of both parties are pro-life.
Pawlenty dubs himself as "a strong and vocal supporter of pro-life issues," and he has crafted a pr-life record both as governor and as Republican leader of the state House of Representatives before that.
With judicial appointments remaining one of the top pro-life issues, Pawlenty named Eric Magnuson, an attorney who has worked with pro-life groups, the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Pawlenty spoke at the 2007 March for Life conducted by Minnesota Citizens Concerns for Life.
At the event, he minced no words when it comes to the pro-life position he takes.
"We are gathered here to say that there is no liberty greater than the right to life. We’re here to affirm that we need to extend that right to the most vulnerable among us, and that is the unborn," he said.
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