New Poll: Would you be willing to vote for a presidential candidate who does not know that condoms help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS?

If you answered “No” to the above question, then it looks like you won’t be voting for John McCain in 2008, who recently had the following exchange with a reporter on his “Straight Talk Express”, somewhere in northern Iowa:

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

To be fair, the initial question was, “Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund contraception to prevent AIDS?”, and I would have believed that McCain’s initial uncertainty was understandable (if not sincere). But when a follow-up question was asked about whether he supported the president’s abstinence-only education policy in schools (Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”), it seemed clear to me that McCain was more interested in pandering to the religious right (no sex before marriage, or else!) than in giving an honest answer to a simple question.