Santa Anna Pueblo, Apr 4, 2008 / 01:34 am (CNA).- Advisers to Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency, have denied rumors that the senator will try to “soften” the Republican party platform on abortion and same-sex marriage, the Washington Times reports.

McCain associates told the Washington Times that his allies are not working behind the scenes to remove party planks calling for constitutional bans on abortion and homosexual marriage before the GOP convention in September.

The party’s positions are revised and released in the platform immediately before the nominating convention.

An adviser to the McCain campaign, speaking to the Washington Times on conditions of anonymity, called “dead wrong” a rumor among conservative activists that Bobby Kilberg would mastermind the Republican convention. 

Critics consider Kilberg to be a liberal on social issues.

"Bobby Kilberg will have nothing to do with the platform," the adviser said. "Do you think we are crazy? Why would we want to change the platform?"

The source for the Washington Times said longtime Republican operative Maria Cino would manage the convention under the direction of Mike Duncan and the Committee on Arrangements.  “It has been the case for more than a year and will not change,” the source said.

The Republican Party’s 2004 platform opposes homosexual marriage, saying, “the well-being of children is best accomplished in the environment of the home, nurtured by their mother and father anchored by the bonds of marriage.”

The party plank on abortion says "the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life, which cannot be infringed. ... Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions."

Previous Republican nominees, such as former Kansas Senator Bob Dole, have tried to change the party’s positions, acting in the belief that the changes will appeal to more voters.

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