Last weekend, John McCain told the New York Times that he opposed gay couples rights to adopt children. However, days later, his campaign issued a clarifying statement declaring that the senator “recognizes that there are many abandoned children who have yet to find homes” and that those children are better served by gay parents than “the alternative.”

In response to McCain’s shaky stance on gay adoption, The Advocate’s news editor Kerry Eleveld evaluated the presumptive Republican presidential nominees murky position on gay issues.

 OK, so apparently we’re revisiting gay marriage too. True: the campaign’s original statement following the California supreme court’s pro-marriage decision indicated that McCain supported the voters’ “right” to decide the matter. But several weeks ago, a statement from the McCain campaign surfaced on ProtectMarriage.com, saying, “I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman.” That revelation was followed by a five-day period of silence from the campaign before spokespeople confirmed that it did indeed accurately represent Sen. McCain’s support for the marriage amendment headed for California’s ballot in November. However, in his weekend interview with the Times, McCain went back to stressing the voters’ right to decide, whatever the outcome might be. “I respect the right of the states to make those decisions,” he said.

McCain’s jags on LGBT issues have come amid what many pundits have regarded as a chaotic time in his campaign and its messaging. Beyond a staffing shakeup that put Rovean protégé Steve Schmidt in charge of the campaign, McCain’s policy statements have lurched from the moderate inspired support for enhanced environmental policies to a crusty conservative jab at the Supreme Court decision giving suspected terrorists the right to challenge their detention in federal courts. “The United States Supreme Court rendered a decision yesterday that I think is one of the worst decisions in history,” McCain said.

But overall, Democratic strategist Steve McMahon thinks McCain’s campaign is moving him slowly, if not consistently, to more moderate positions in order to please independent voters.

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One thing is clear: it’s hard to keep up with McCain’s statements, even for professional queer organizations like the Human Rights Campaign. About an hour after the McCain camp’s “clarifying” statement started to circulate today, HRC issued a rebuke of his comments from the weekend, noting “there are more than one half a million children in the U.S. foster care system, with at least 100,000 awaiting adoption by loving, permanent families.” But you know what they say: That’s so last week.