Contact: Brooke Mitchell, CatholicPrecincts.org, 202-821-8122, CatholicPrecincts@gmail.com

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- Jason S. Jones, president of CatholicPrecincts.org, issued the following statement in response to The Campaign for America's Future's false assertion that John McCain and those who would support his White House run are conservatives:

"At the heart of the conservative ethic is the unwavering belief in the words of our Declaration, which so eloquently define the source of all rights: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' Furthermore, Conservatives believe that a large, bloated federal government is the enemy of man and his freedom.

"I know conservatives, and John McCain is NO conservative.

"John McCain has lacked consistency and clarity on many of our country's paramount concerns, including abortion and homosexual marriage.  His political history is littered with flip-flops on his abortion stance, including during his 2000 presidential run when he said he would hold a 'family meeting' to decide his grandchild's fate should his daughter become pregnant.  Now as he considers a run again in 2008, McCain is trying to move toward the right by using pro-life language. But the voter should beware.  This mid-term election proved that values voters are looking for substance, not rhetoric, and John McCain lacks substance on the defense of human life.

"McCain's stance on traditional marriage—defined as a God-given institution between one man and one woman—has lacked his self-styled 'straight talk' as well.  He claims to support only state-level marriage amendments because of a pseudo-conservative argument against a federal amendment. But just last month he told Chris Matthews on Hardball that: 'I believe gay marriage should be allowed…'

"Possibly most telling was his signature piece of legislation, McCain-Feingold, which amounted to nothing more than incumbency protection and put a strangle hold on the free speech rights of pro-life, pro-family and conservative groups leading up to key elections.

"Conservatives deserve a leader who will take a clear, uncompromising stance on these all important topics.  Conservatives deserve better than John McCain."