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After Toni Morrison infamously declared Bill Clinton, “America’s first black president,” some Catholics, most notably former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, took to calling George W. Bush America’s “first Catholic president.”

The title was an affront to the legacy of JFK, but more likely was aimed at the president’s commitment to protecting the dignity of the human person, particularly on the issues of abortion, stem-cell research and marriage.

With the GOP presidential sweepstakes now winnowing, faithful Catholics might reasonably begin to ask whether Sen. John McCain of Arizona could be the next “Catholic” president. I believe the evidence favors such a hope.

In an address to conservatives earlier this month, McCain attempted to lay to rest any doubt about his pro-life views.

“I believe today as I believed 25 years ago … in the social values that are the true source of our strength,” he said. And “the steadfast defense of our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which I have defended my entire career as God-given to the born and unborn.”

The choice of words was not an accident, and was made more forceful by his statement that shortly followed: “I am not in the habit of making promises to my country that I do not intend to keep.”

McCain willingly staked his political life on the surge in Iraq, saying at the time that he would rather lose an election than lose a war. The strategy has since silenced its critics, and McCain has quickly become the most trusted leader on how to responsibly end the war — by winning it.

Perseverance in a worthy cause despite criticism is a trait we should esteem in a political candidate.

McCain no doubt feels that is what he exhibits on issues like immigration. The backlash of many conservatives against the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration bill spelled apostasy for many GOP supporters.

While Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called the legislation “imperfect” while he urged Catholics to support the bill as a reasonable balance between the need to enforce the rule of law and the need to treat with dignity “millions of our fellow human beings.” Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, no stranger to political controversy, cautioned, “Let us be tireless in welcoming the stranger into our midst with Christlike respect and love.”

Archbishop Chaput admitted that “good people can disagree sharply on this sensitive issue” but argued that our current laws create “impossible contradictions and suffering,” and called on Americans to respond with both justice and mercy.

Ironically, at the time the immigration bill was being debated, McCain found himself outside his own party and instead in the camp of many Catholic social justice advocates.

Today, his leadership on the issue will likely help his chances with Hispanic voters against the Democratic nominee in November.

Similarly, McCain’s leadership in helping pass the anti-torture amendment in 2005, along with his consistent reminder of the need to respect the dignity of the human person, even in warfare, once again found him out of step with his party’s base, but very much in step with Catholic teaching.

The “warmongering” tag that will likely be leveled against McCain in the coming months will need to be weighed against his efforts at preserving our own moral integrity in the prosecution of the war on terror.

Catholics should welcome McCain’s judgment in this area, formed in large part from his own experiences.

To be sure, the prudential judgments of McCain on issues like immigration are quite distinct from the unequivocal obligation to protect innocent human life in the womb, human embryos and the institution of marriage.

McCain’s record here is mixed, and even problematic on the issue of public funding for research that involves the killing of human embryos.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., an ardent defender of the rights of the unborn and supporter of McCain, believes the advancements in science provide him an opportunity to abandon embryo-killing research altogether. Others have suggested that McCain has signaled his willingness to reconsider his vote in favor of the destructive research. Such signals, if true, will further bolster McCain’s credibility with faithful Catholics.

On the issue of marriage, McCain has been criticized harshly for opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment, a remedy he argued was not proportionate to the threat, and that stood little chance of success.

Employing his instincts, McCain urged caution in amending the Constitution, and instead argued that the issue should be left to the states.

He did support the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which still protects states from the recklessness of others like Massachusetts. And in his home state of Arizona, he supported a ban on homosexual “marriage” that included a ban on civil unions.

While many Catholics, including me, disagreed with McCain’s judgment on the need for federal protection, our disagreements were not over whether marriage should be preserved, but how it ought to be done.

The “Catholic” badge in presidential politics has a storied and controversial history.

One thing we can be certain of is that a President Obama or President Clinton would not wear the badge very well.

Democratic celebration of abortion rights, redefining of marriage and the destruction of human embryos have been turning away Catholics at an ever-increasing rate.

Brian Burch is the president of Fidelis,

a national grassroots advocacy group,

which has endorsed

John McCain for president.