McCain attacks Romney on abortion
Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 1:50 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Everything was all “He’s my friend” between Romney and McCain at the Republican debate. But the behind-the-scenes jabs are keeping up -- and getting more overt. Today, punches were thrown over Romney’s stance on abortion and statements he made at a May 2005 event.
McCain’s campaign accused Romney of flip-flopping on the issue, circulating a release this afternoon with this headline: “Mitt vs. Fact. Say. Do. Anything. Shifting positions on abortion.” The Romney campaign – recognizing its lead in recent polls -- came right back at McCain, describing the campaign’s motives as “borne of desperation” and “sad and unfortunate.”
Both link to different videos of the same event. (McCain’s here). Romney’s here.)
The McCain campaign links to a
video of the event they say is proof that Romney has shifted his position on abortion. The Romney camp accuses the McCain team of “selective editing,” links to this
video and adds this 2005 op-ed Romney wrote in the
Boston Globe about why he vetoed a Massachusetts contraception bill.
Matt David, McCain’s deputy communications director started the back and forth with, "Mitt Romney's biggest challenge in this election will be convincing Republicans he has principled positions on important issues, especially now that it's known that he remained committed to pro-choice policies after his 'epiphany' on abortion in 2004. In stark contrast, John McCain has a consistent 24-year, pro-life record."
That prompted this response from Kevin Madden, a Romney spokesman: “A campaign that is faltering and flailing has again resorted to calculated distortions in last ditch effort to maintain relevance. Governor Romney is firmly pro-life and can rely on his record of having protected the sanctity of life when faced with those issues as governor. Governor Romney consistently maintained, in an effort to protect the sanctity of life, that he would fight attempts to weaken the state’s existing abortion laws. Maintaining existing laws in a state like Massachusetts was an important fight in and of itself.”
