As recently as a few days ago, I was feeling sort of glum about the Democrats’ chances of winning the White House, considering the deep divisions within our party. We’ve all seen the exit polls: in Indiana, for instance [3], fully 50 percent of Clinton voters told pollsters that they would refuse to vote for Obama in the general election.

50 percent!

I wondered in my glumness: given the likelihood of a fairly close election this fall, how can the Democrats hope to overcome such profound division?

Then John McCain opened his mouth: and suddenly I was at peace.

(Reuters) McCain will seek judges like Roberts and Alito [4]

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Tuesday he would appoint judges in the mold of conservatives John Roberts, Samuel Alito and former Chief Justice William Rehnquist if he were elected in November.

In a speech in Winston-Salem, the Arizona senator said he would “look for accomplished men and women with a proven record of excellence in the law, and a proven commitment to judicial restraint.”

“I will look for people in the cast of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and my friend the late William Rehnquist — jurists of the highest caliber who know their own minds, and know the law, and know the difference,” McCain told an audience at Wake Forest University.

So, if disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters — in many cases strong feminists — decide to vote for McCain out of anger, they’ll know what to expect in return: a Supreme Court dedicated to whittling away women’s reproductive rights.

But McCain hasn’t stopped there. He’s also upping the ante on the proposed pro-“life” constitutional amendment.

(ABC) McCain Poised to Flip on GOP Abortion Platform [5]

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces enormous pressure from social conservatives to ignore his repeated commitment to change the GOP’s platform on abortion

If he were to change the party platform,” to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother’s life, “I think that would be political suicide,” said Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, to ABC News. “I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble.”

A senior Republican close to McCain told ABC News that building a more inclusive GOP is a top priority for the Arizona senator.

But this adviser does not see changing the party platform to include exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother as necessary for achieving that vision.

It would seem, therefore, that McCain is probably about to agree to a platform calling for the outlawing of all abortions, even in cases of rape, incest and where the mother’s life is in danger. Yeah, that ought to win him a lot of Democratic support.

Poor John. Here he stands with a huge opportunity to take advantage of a badly splintered Democratic Party. Yet, instead of being able to move to the political center in order to seal the deal with some of these angry Democrats, he’s forced to continue selling his soul to far right nutcases.

As I was saying, I’m starting to feel a lot better about our chances of achieving Democratic unity in the fall.

After all, we have John McCain hard at work for us.

http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1363 [6]