On "The View", McCain Weighs in On Lipstick, Roe v. Wade

From CBS News' John Bentley:

(NEW YORK) – Responding for the first time to the ads his campaign has put out about Barack Obama, John McCain told the ladies of “The View” today Obama should not have used the phrase “lipstick on a pig” in talking about McCain and Sarah Palin’s policies being no different than President Bush’s.

“Sen. Obama chooses his words very carefully,” McCain said. “He shouldn’t have said it.”

McCain said that the fault lay with Obama for the negative turn both campaigns have taken because they haven’t had more appearances together.

“If we had done what I asked Sen. Obama to do,” McCain said, referring to his proposal to hold joint town hall meetings, “I don’t think you’d see the tenor of this campaign.”

He was also asked if he would work to overturn Roe v. Wade. Perhaps because of the heavily female audience of "The View", McCain did not answer directly, but instead laid out his views on appointing judges.

“What we’d be doing is nominating justices to the Supreme Court and other courts who strictly interpret Constitution,” McCain said. “We would not impose a litmus test on any issue.”

But on his website, McCain is much more direct.

“John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench,” it reads. “Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states…however, the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion.”