JOHN MCCAIN: Flip flops on the King holiday, Maybe.

JOHN MCCAIN: "I WAS WRONG ON KING HOLIDAY," BUT NOW I'M PROGRESSIVE.

In Memphis on the anniversary of Dr. King's death,  John McCain, noting his record on the issue of a holiday in King's honor said he was wrong to vote against it.  In 1983, McCain voted against creating a federal Martin Luther King Holiday and his home state rescinded recognition of the holiday in 1987.  He now claims his position has "evolved."  Yet, his record of support for racist individuals, and his consistent votes against civil rights legislation tell a different truth.

His campaign staff is riddled with individuals whose comments about Martin Luther King undermine McCain's claims of evolution.

His own voting record has been consistent.  He votes against legislation that would benefit people of color and other working poor.  The 1983, holiday resolution passed. [HR 3706, Vote 289, 8/2/83; CQ 1983]

In 2000 McCain said he had evolved in the same way another Arizona Candidate for President, had.  McCain compared his evolution on this issue to former Republican Presidential Nominee Barry Goldwater.  McCain said "I believe that Barry Goldwater, to start with, regretted his vote on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, I think that Barry grew, like all of us grow and evolve. In 1983, when I was brand-new in the Congress, I voted against the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King. That was a mistake, OK? And later I had the chance to  . . .  help fight for  . . .  the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King as a holiday in my state." [ www.salon.com 4/18/00; Accessed 4/2/08]

Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 1987, his first official act in office.  A 1987 "Time" magazine article says "Mecham strikes many voters as a simpleminded ideologue who is giving a bad name to the nation's second-fastest-growing state. After rescinding the Jan. 19 holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Mecham defended the use of the term "pickaninnies" for blacks." [Time 11/9/87]

McCain said he thought Governor Mecham was Correct in His Decision.  According to Sam Stein, writing in the  Huffington Post, "In 1983, McCain voted against passing a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of King. Four years later, then-Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday, saying it had been established through an illegal executive order by his Democratic predecessor. McCain said he thought Mecham was correct in his decision." [Sam Stein, Huffington Post, 4/1/08]

McCain, consistently, voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990. He voted against a bill designed to address employer discrimination at least four times. [S 2104, Vote #304, 10/24/90; Vote #276, Vote #275, 10/16/90; Vote #161, 7/18/90]

In a televised interview on Hardball, McCain sidestepped a direct answer to questions on Affirmative Action, saying only that he opposed quotas.  After criticizing teachers' unions, McCain said, he would ensure "Every school and library in America is being wired to the Internet… But, no, I do not support quotas, and have seen the results of it." [NBC, "Hardball," 2/9/00]   In a 2004 questionnaire, Senator McCain indicated he would not support affirmative action policies in public college admissions. [2004 National Political Awareness Test- Senator McCain]

In 1999, McCain voted to table an amendment that required States to address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without numerical standards or quotas, disproportionate number of juvenile members of 'racial minority groups' who come in contact with juvenile justice system. The motion to table passed on a near-perfect party line split, 52-48. [S 254, Vote #130, 5/19/99]

One of his campaign strategists, Richard Quinn, called the MLK Holiday "Vitriolic and Profane."  Quinn, was a South Carolina "strategist" for McCain in the 2000 campaign.

McCain defended Quinn.  In a Partisan View column, Richard Quinn wrote, "King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane. By celebrating King as the incarnation of all they admire, they [black leaders] have chosen to glorify the histrionic rather than the heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest and the best among their own race. Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state, a terrible bondage of body and soul." Quinn has also advocated electing David Duke, and sold T-shirts through his magazine celebrating Abraham Lincoln's assassination. [Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Fall, 1983; Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Winter, 1989, PFAW Release, 2/17/00] [Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 12/23/05; Vanity Fair, 11/04]

McCain Defended Quinn as 'Respected' and a 'Fine Man,'despite Mr. Quinn's writings and history of racial insensitivity, McCain defended him and refused to fire him. [Associated Press, 2/18/00; New York Times, 2/8/00]

McCain, addressing the Mortgage Meltdown said Americans who  "Bought Homes They Couldn't Afford" should take full responsibility for their acts, and he argued against vigorous Federal intervention to resolve the crisis. On March 25, according to the New York Times, "McCain appeared to be trying to confront questions about his dexterity in dealing with the economy, a subject that he has admitted is not his strongest suit." During the speech, McCain said, "Some Americans bought homes they couldn't afford, betting that rising prices would make it easier to refinance later at more affordable rates." The New York Times reported, "Mr. McCain argued this week against a vigorous federal intervention to address the crisis, saying Washington should not bail out banks and homeowners who in his view had knowingly taken on risky mortgages." [New York Times, 3/26/08; 3/28/08]

McCain has not evolved, but his rhetoric has.  Now, instead of adding insult to the injury of racism, he has taken on the mantle of oppressor of ALL working people.  McCain and the Beer Baroness may take the cake, but they don't need to be in the White House eating it.