Ramesh Ponnuru, author of "The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life" and senior editor of National Review, addressed bloggers participating in the FRC's Blogs4Life Conference as the keynote speaker. Ponnuru gave an overview of his book and took questions, many of which concerned pro-life presidential candidates.

The mainstream media has leaned to the left of the American public when it comes to pro-life issues for years, said Ponnuru, "and everybody knows it." Some have even gone so far as to march in pro-choice rallies (e.g. NYT's Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse, 1989). Now the same pro-choice passion with which the MSM has fought anti-abortionists over the years is being engaged to promote embryonic stem cell research.

When it comes to presidential candidates, Ponnuru said that anyone who declares a pro-life stance should be taken at his word, even if he/she is newly converted to the cause, because they'll be locked into that position.

"Pro-lifers have to be very hard-headed and unsentimental about these types of decisions," he said.

Ponnuru said he would expect Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Kan.), Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich all to veto non-pro-life legislation and to appoint judges who would vote on the right side of Roe v. Wade.

But, he said, Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani probably shouldn't be entrusted as safekeepers of the pro-life cause. Especially Giuliani, who refused to support a ban on partial-birth abortion ("That's something people need to pay a lot of attention too," he said).

He did say that the slant of the staff candidates choose to hire definitely makes an impact. "Personnel is policy," he said which is why the slant of their staff is an issue.

Overall, Ponnuru said of the candidates, conservatives are going in "with a pretty weak hand."