Progress Illinois

Taking a page out of Sarah Palin’s base-oriented playbook, John McCain broached an all-too-familiar topic during last night’s final presidential debate: Barack Obama’s record as an Illinois state senator on so-called “partial birth abortions.” While the Democrat expressed the widely-held view that there should be an exception to the ban if the health of the mother is in danger, McCain slathered on the condescension in response.  Using air quotes around "health of the mother," he seemed to suggest that the term is part of some elaborate scheme by pro-choicers to murder infants at will. Watch it:

McCain's decision to take cues from Palin, whose popularity among independents and women is dropping precipitously, is perplexing. Aside from obscuring the truth about Obama’s position, McCain undoubtedly turned off a lot of voters whose support he desperately needs. As Archpundit puts it, “There are about one thousand ways to address the issue and not alienate everyone to the left of Jill Stanek. John McCain chose to not try any one of those one thousand ways.” Following his ridiculous answer on Supreme Court appointees, in which he voiced the opinion that only judges who oppose Roe v. Wade are qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court, it was truly an odd display.