Here's John McCain, in an interview with the Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes:
Hard to say this was out of context...
"I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party. And I also feel that--and I'm not trying to equivocate here--that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily rule Tom Ridge out."
It seems that McCain later suggests that being too pro-gay -- among other things -- would make New York Gov. Mike Bloomberg too much to bear.
"I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a--albeit strong--but just it's a disagreement. And I think Ridge is a great example of that. Far moreso than Bloomberg, because Bloomberg is pro-gay rights, pro, you know, a number of other issues."
Can one be pro-gay and still be a Republican?
"I really think he was saying that people can differ on one issue and still be a core part of the party, which strikes me as a message of inclusion," a McCain adviser says.
And then there's this.
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