This is a departure from the last two presidential elections. In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush used his opposition to abortion rights as a key tool to boost turnout of conservative voters. This year, McCain has focused more on winning moderates and independents.
But abortion opponents see McCain's potential to shape the Supreme Court as a historic opportunity after 35 years of fighting to reverse Roe vs. Wade.
At least one justice will probably retire during the next president's term. A replacement named by the president could determine whether the court, which has been closely divided on abortion cases, overturns the ruling.
As a result, the Republican candidate's remark about Ridge in an interview with the Weekly Standard alarmed religious conservatives who have long been wary of McCain, who once branded televangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as "agents of intolerance."
"He can say that but he better not do it," said Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Assn. McCain's "weakness on the conservative agenda as a whole" already poses problems, Wildmon said, and many evangelicals and Catholics would not show up at the polls if he put an abortion rights supporter on the ticket.
A recent Time magazine poll found 71% of likely white evangelical voters supported McCain. But 27% of them said they were not excited about him.
"You've got to have an enthusiastic base of supporters, and right now John McCain doesn't have that," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who described McCain's comments about Ridge as "unsettling."
McCain was not the first -- or even second -- choice as Republican nominee for many religious conservatives, said Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, and they have reluctantly embraced him as preferable to Obama. He said their general view was: "I'd rather have a third-class fireman than a first-class arsonist."
McCain's statement about Ridge took many by surprise in light of his earlier comment that he did not know "how you could nominate a pro-choice vice president without a real backlash from the party."
For Obama, the abortion issue has been less problematic. His party's announcement that Casey would speak at the convention drew no protest from abortion rights groups.
"While Sen. Casey's position on a woman's right to choose is at odds with the Democratic Party platform, the Democratic Party's strength is its diversity of voices," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
The platform differs only slightly from that of previous years, when the party's support for abortion rights was coupled with statements that the procedure should be rare.
The 2008 platform says the party "strongly and unequivocally supports Roe vs. Wade." But it also says the party "strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal healthcare, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs."
The placid reaction from abortion rights groups was notable for its contrast with the flare-up among conservatives after McCain's comments on a running mate.
"It's high time that Americans start looking at the reproductive health movement as much broader than just abortion focused," said Kelli Conlin, president of NARAL Pro-Choice New York. "This really underscores that nicely."
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michael.finnegan@latimes.com
