This sounds like a story you might read on the spoof site, womenforjohnmccain.com, which Trish wrote about earlier today, but, sadly, this is no joke. Or at least it’s not meant to be.
John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned.
- McCain website
Yesterday, just in time for the start of the Democratic National Convention, the McCain campaign released a new ad that features Debra Bartoshevich, a nurse from Washington, who claims to be a “proud Hillary Clinton Democrat” who now plans to vote for McCain.

But at news conference in Denver arranged for the Republican National Committee, Bartoshevich revealed what appears to be a shaky grasp on her candidate’s position on an issue that is fundamental to actual Hillary Clinton supporters:

Midway through the event, Bartoschevich was asked if she was concerned about McCain’s pro-life voting record. At a podium paid for by the Republican National Committee, with McCain aide Carly Fiorina standing nearby, Bartoschevich said this, “Going back to 1999, John McCain did an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle saying that overturning Roe v. Wade would not make any sense, because then women would have to have illegal abortions.”

Bartoshevich must have missed McCain’s appearance at the Saddleback megachurch a couple of weeks ago, when he said this:

“PASTOR RICK” WARREN: Let’s deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time, every different angle, every different pain, all of the decisions and all of that. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people, people who believe that life begins at conception, believe that’s a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?

MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (APPLAUSE). I have a 25- year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment. That’s my commitment to you.

And Bartoshevich has apparently not bothered to look up McCain’s position on abortion, which is plainly stated on his website, under the heading “Overturning Roe v. Wade”:

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.

Or there is another possibility: Maybe Debra Bartoshevich is a Republican plant and not really a “proud Hillary Clinton Democrat” at all.