In the wake of McCain’s alleged Alito comments earlier today, the Arizona Senator held a conference call to address the issue. I took the opportunity to ask him about whether he’s concerned about conservative justices opposing McCain-Feingold, as per what Andy observed earlier today. This isn’t an exact quote, I’m paraphrasing his answer a bit but he said, “I’ll trust their judgment. There are decisions to be made on the Supreme Court that are far more important than my particular legislative biases. I want them to strictly interpret the Constitution.”

He was unequivocal that 1) he was and is committed to supporting Justices Roberts and Alito and 2) McCain-Feingold would not be a litmus test for the justices he appoints. I’m not a legal expert and I’m sure Mark (Levin) and Andy will have more to say on this. Clearly he wants to assuage conservative concern here — we’ll see if it helps him.