The Guardian argues that the Cindy McCain story is intentional and aimed at keeping pro-choice voters in John McCain's corner.

McCain later clarified his 1999 statements to reflect his opposition to abortion rights. Yet a poll conducted this February by Planned Parenthood found continuing confusion, with 46% of female McCain supporters saying they wished to see Roe v Wade upheld.

Cindy McCain's remarks may have been aimed at ensuring independent women will continue to sympathise with the Republican ticket. She freely admitted to differing with Palin, the party's vice-presidential nominee, on giving abortion rights to victims of rape and incest.

Palin opposes allowing victims of both crimes to have abortions, but Cindy McCain said she was in favour of such exceptions.

"We differ in many issues, we differ across the board with people," the Arizona senator's wife said. "We don't have to agree on every issue."

We've all be arguing that John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was purely strategic, and Cindy McCain's statements are strategic as well. There's a large base of Republicans who support reproductive choice. If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend the book The War on Choice by former Planned Parenthood CEO Gloria Feldt. She summarizes how the Evangelicals moved the Republican Party away from the pro-choice movement during the Reagan administration and the ensuing Bush administrations.

Although they differ on their views of abortion, Cindy McCain supports Sarah Palin and thinks that she can manage a family and be in politics.

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Many other TBP contributors have already said this, but I think it's interesting to hear it coming from the GOP side. We absolutely wouldn't be asking questions about a man's ability to balance his family and work responsibilities. We never do, whether we're talking about presidential politics or women in the workforce in general. So it's no mystery to me that Cindy McCain supports reproductive choice.