Pat Dollard

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My impression of Teddy Roosevelt is limited to a tough sonuvawitch who will kick your ass and kill for America.

But, I gotta be honest here, I really don’t know what kind of conservative teddy Roosevelt was…

…anybody?

HUDSON, Wisconsin: Senator John McCain, in a wide-ranging interview, called for a government that was frugal but more active than many conservatives might prefer. He said government should play an important role in areas like addressing climate change, regulating campaign finance and taking care of “those in America who cannot take care of themselves.”

“I count myself as a conservative Republican, yet I view it to a large degree in the Theodore Roosevelt mold,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said, referring to Roosevelt’s reputation for reform, environmentalism and tough foreign policy.

In recent weeks, McCain has left many Republicans unsettled about his ideological bearings by toggling between reliably conservative issues, like support for gun owners’ rights, and an emphasis on centrist messages, like his willingness to tackle global warming and to provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

McCain, who with his wife, Cindy, has an adopted daughter, said flatly that he opposed allowing gay couples to adopt. “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption,” he said.

But he declined to take a specific position when asked whether only evolution should be taught in public schools. “It’s up to the school boards,” he said. “That’s why we have local control over education.” McCain has said he believes in evolution.

Many social conservatives strenuously oppose California’s decision to allow same-sex marriage. But McCain, who also opposes same-sex marriage, has always said that the issue is up to the states, and in the interview he said he would stick to that position as president even if California chose to continue allowing gay marriage after putting the matter to a statewide vote in November. “I respect the right of the states to make those decisions,” he said.

Asked whether he considered himself an evangelical Christian, McCain responded, “I consider myself a Christian.”

“I attend church,” he said. “My faith has sustained me in very difficult times.” Asked how often he attended, he responded: “Not as often as I should.” He has recently been photographed going to church as his campaign has begun to make public the times he attends services.

When asked if he felt that it was more difficult to run against Obama because of the sensitivities of race, McCain responded wryly: “I’d like to make a joke, but I can’t.”

“We are in a situation today where all words are parsed, all comments are diagnosed and looked at for whatever effect they might have,” he said. “We have to feed the beast, the hourly cable shows, the instant news in the blogs and all that. That is just the situation that we’re in, and I’m not complaining about it, because that would be both foolish and a waste of time.”

Read his full interview here.

(IHT)