Editor's note. Be sure to check out http://thepage.time.com/text-of-mccains-august-23-weekly-radio-address. It is a transcription of pro-life Sen. John McCain's August 23 weekly address found on the web page of Time magazine.

To be honest I was busy with something else last night when Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. spoke to the Democratic National Convention. I didn't feel the need to watch it live, because I knew what he would say and, sure enough, he did.

In the midst of a riff bashing Republicans, which is fine, he offered this throwaway line. "Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion," Casey said. "But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who may disagree with him."

(Parenthetically, we might ask, how much "respect" did Obama show NRLC when we accurately--and irrefutably-- demonstrated that he has tried for four years to cover up his full role in killing legislation to protect born-alive survivors of abortions? He said we were "lying.")

These words–all 39 of them–were not meant in anyway to highlight his pro-life views but rather to shower pro-abortion Senator Barack Obama with praise for allowing him to speak at all. In 1992, when Democrats were coronating pro-abortion Bill Clinton as their nominee, they denied Casey's father, the late pro-life champion Gov. Bob Casey senior, a chance to speak. Indeed, Casey began his remarks by invoking his dad's name. "I'm honored to stand before you as Governor Bob Casey's son and a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

I can't help wondering what his dad's decision would have been had he been invited to speak on behalf of a man whose embrace of abortion is so extreme he has staked out pro-abortion territory even beyond the lines marked by NARAL. Would he have accepted? If he had, would Gov. Casey have been content to bury a mention of the most profound moral issue of our day in two sentences? Would he have allowed himself to be used?

The substance of Sen. Casey's remarks, of course, was never the point of having him on stage. They were a rhetorical prop, part of the attempt to give cover on the abortion issue to a man who doesn't deserve it. Casey's casual mention of his "honest disagreement" on abortion was the bare minimum.

Speaking of bare minimums, did you watch pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech? I was and am of the school that believes that for all the baggage her ethically and morally challenged husband would have brought, Sen. Clinton would have been a formidable foe for pro-life Sen. John McCain.

I'm not big on clichés, such as "finding her voice." But sometimes clichés capture what has taken place. Clinton's speech was extraordinary. A candidate whose behavior in her first campaign forays was wooden, distant, almost robotic has matured into a powerfully effective speech giver.

I found what immediately followed her remarks to be utterly fascinating. MSNBC, so in the tank for Obama it is embarrassing, instantly described her speech as a "Grand Slam homer." And it was, but not in the way Keith Olbermann meant--balm to help heal the rift between the Obama and Clinton camps.

Fox News, which had been scrupulously fair to Clinton during the long, knock down primary season, immediately understood the real import. The speech was all--all--about Clinton.

She would praise herself as a champion for this or that and then, almost as an afterthought, tell the audience, so is Obama. But, far more importantly, she said nothing to soften, let alone take back, all the inadequacies and shortcomings she attributed to Obama during their knock down fight. (Sen. McCain's campaign has used her criticisms in recent ads to devastating effect.) If the speech was supposed to be something besides an exercise in self-congratulation, it failed.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will speak, overshadowing the acceptance speech of Obama's hapless vice presidential choice, pro-abortion Sen. Joseph Biden. On Thursday Sen. Obama gives his acceptance speech. On Friday, Sen. McCain will tell us who his vice presidential running mate will be.

Please be sure to continue sending TN&V to your family, friends, and colleagues. They can sign up to receive TN&V each Monday through Friday by going to http://nrlc.org/join_our_mailing_list.htm.

Please send your comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

Part Two -- Cloning Initiative Will Be on Michigan Ballot