Liberal Talk Radio

John McCain shows us how it’s done. First, snag a New York Daily News headline of “McCain sez ‘I don’t’ to backing constitutional ban on gay nups”:

The Republican with the loudest presidential buzz says he won’t back a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, despite its importance to conservative GOP primary voters.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said yesterday the controversial proposal to amend the Constitution would step on states’ rights.

“The states regulate the conditions of marriage, and unless there’s some decisive overruling by the federal courts, then I will continue to believe that the states should decide,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Note that he’s arguing against gay marriage on state’s rights grounds, which is important if you are interested in getting on the record as supporting a gay marriage ban at the state level:

Sen. John McCain said [in August 2005] that he supports an initiative that would change Arizona’s Constitution to ban gay marriages and deny government benefits to unmarried couples.

The Republican senator became the most prominent Arizonan to add his voice to what has become a flurry of measures competing for a place on the state’s Nov. 7, 2006, ballot.

. . .

The amendment “would allow the people of Arizona to decide on the definition of marriage in our state,” McCain said in a statement. The senator, who opposes a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, believes those are state matters, a staffer said.

Spin, obfuscate, parse . . .