McCain got heckled today during his speech in Memphis, when he finally apologized for not supporting a MLK holiday. Looks like McCain’s effort to “court the African-American vote this year and campaign in places Republicans often shun” is getting off to a bad start.
From Huffington Post:
McCain voted against the creation of a holiday honoring King in 1983, a vote which was supported by a large number of Republicans. McCain claimed this week that he was largely unaware on the importance of King’s work at the time, due to his Vietnam-era service overseas. Speaking on Thursday to reporters, he explained that his conversion occurred around 1990:
“I voted in my…first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me. And I not only supported it but I fought very hard in my home state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party.”
But McCain’s voting record since 1990 doesn’t support this explanation. In addition to voting to oppose a state holiday in 1987 (which he later supported) and a federal holiday in 1989, McCain voted in 1994 to cut funding for the commission that promoted King’s holiday.
McCain’s highly suspect civil rights record doesn’t stop there. In 2000, McCain called the Confederate flag “offensive”, but later lauded it as a “battle flag” and a “symbol of heritage”, shamelessly pandering to South Carolinians before the presidential primary. He later conceded that his position was one of “cowardice”, admitting he was afraid his anti-Confederate flag position would cost him the primary.
Today, McCain was asked why he voted against the MLK holiday.
McCain: I voted in my first year in congress against it. Then I began to learn. And I studied. And people talked to me. And I not only supported it, but I fought very hard in my own state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party. …
Reporter: On Martin Luther King, what do you mean you say you learned?
McCain: Well, I learned that this individual was a transcendent figure in American history. He deserved to be honored. And I thought it was appropriate to do so. In my home state of Arizona, I was not proud that we were one of the last states to recognize Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday. And I was pleased to be part of the fight for that recognition.
Reporter: What didn’t you know when you voted initially against it that you later knew when you changed your mind?
McCain: I had not really been involved in the issue. I just had not had a lot of experience with the issue. That’s all.
Reporter: [couldn’t hear question]
McCain: In Arizona, I came from the military where we are the greatest equal opportunity employer in the nation and still are. And I had just not been involved in the issue. There were issues that I had not been involved in when I was in the military, and then I went relatively quickly to being a member of Congress.
Reporter: You just didn’t realize the large role in American history?
McCain: I think I just explained it about best I could.
Reporter: It’s not really an issue to be involved in, to be aware of his impact on this country, it’s more of a knowledge of history.
McCain: I think you’re entitled to your opinion on it and I respect your opinion on that, but I had not been involved in the issue. I had come from being in the military to running for Congress in a state that did not have a large African American population.
As Kos notes,
McCain was 32 when King died. He was 47 when he voted against the holiday. He claims he didn’t know about MLK that entire time? That it was merely “an issue”? The reporter is right, this wasn’t an issue, it was basic knowledge of American history.
Granted, McCain was a POW when Martin Luther King was assassinated, but he had over a decade to understand the significance of MLK!
The exchange illustrates either how dumb McCain was, how racist McCain was, or how senile he is now. Take your pick.