Feisty ladies of The View grill McCain on campaign claims David Edwards and Diane Sweet

Published: Saturday September 13, 2008





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Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain faced possibly his toughest media grilling of the campaign season by the hosts of ABC's The View yesterday, when he appeared accompanied by wife Cindy McCain.



McCain began explaining his choice of running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by saying that she would help to reform Washington, specifically cited curbing federal spending for earmarks. When pressed about Palin's record of requesting and accepting such money for Alaska by host Barbara Walters, McCain ignored the record and said, "Not as governor she didn't."



The show's feisty female hosts took McCain to task regarding two recently debunked campaign ads attacking Senator Barack Obama, and erroneous claims that running mate Sarah Palin never sought money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor. Palin has sought nearly $200 million in earmarks this year alone.



Co-host Joy Behar asked McCain, "There are ads running from your campaign. Now we know that those two ads are untrue, they are lies. And yet, you say at the end of it say you approve these messages. Do you really approve these?"



"They're not lies," McCain said, insisting that Obama "chooses his words very carefully" and should not have made the lipstick remark. Barbara Walters then reminds him that he made a lipstick on a pig comment regarding Hillary, and McCain denies he was talking about Hillary, and says he was speaking of her health care plan.



Obama, as an Illinois state senator, voted in favor of legislation that would teach age appropriate sex education to kindergartners, including information on rejecting advances by sexual predators. And while Obama told a campaign rally this week that electing McCain would be like "putting lipstick on a pig," he never used the phrase in connection to Palin.



McCain reiterated his opposition to Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion rights. "I believe Roe vs. Wade was a very bad decision," said the senator drawing gasps along with some outright 'boos'from the studio audience.



The show's hosts also played a newly released video tape recording of McCain after he was released from the POW camp in Vietnam, and returned to the United States with fellow comrades.



Cindy McCain, joined her husband for the last part of the show, said she disagreed with Palin's view that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest. Cindy also refused to answer questions about how many homes the McCains own, by saying "That's not part of this campaign, "We are fortunate to be able to live a good life and share with other people who are not so fortunate."





The following videos are parts one through three of the Friday, September 12, 2008 recording of ABC's The View.





John McCain appears on The View - part 1



John McCain tries to defend himself against The View host's attacks on his campaign claims.













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John McCain appears on The View - part 2





McCain was pushed on his stance on abortion, that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Noting his pledge to nominate justices who "strictly interpret the constitution," host Whoopi Goldberg asks if that meant she'd be returned to slavery:











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John McCain appears on The View - part 3



McCain's wife Cindy joins the program during this portion, and the conversation turns to the McCain children, and humanitarian efforts.











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