McCain's attempts to reach African Americans falls short
George E Curry/Originally Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Issue date: 7/20/08 Section: Politics
In an effort to show that, if elected, he would be president of ''all the people,'' John McCain has visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., the scene of one of the bloodiest civil rights marches in history. He's also traveled though Alabama's impoverished Black Belt region, and showed up for services commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis.
Those gestures, designed to soften McCain's public image, cannot hide his awful record on civil rights.
In 11 grading periods since he began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1983 and the Senate in 1987, McCain has earned an F for every period, according to an annual report by the NAACP.
Of the 11 grading periods, McCain's highest score was 50 percent (1985-86), meaning he supported positions on legislation favored by the NAACP half of the time. His second-highest score was 40 percent (1997-1998). In the nine other grading periods, he supported the NAACP 30 percent of the time or less.
Instead of getting better on civil rights in recent years, McCain has grown worse. Since his unsuccessful 2000 bid for president, McCain voted with the NAACP just 27 percent of the time during the 107th Congress, 15 percent in the 108th Congress and an all-time low of 7 percent during the first session of the 109th Congress, which ended in 2006.
When he ran for president in 2000 and again this year, McCain refused to complete a questionnaire submitted to presidential candidates by the NAACP and turned down invitations to address the national conventions of both the NAACP and the National Urban League.
Even Ronald Reagan, who went to court to invalidate voluntary affirmative-action programs, and George W. Bush, who often clashes with civil rights leaders, have addressed the two groups.
After addressing the NAACP last Wednesday in Cincinnati and another appearance scheduled for the National Urban League in Orlando, McCain's record will speak louder than anything he will have to say. An examination of McCain's years in Washington shows that he opposed initiatives favored by the NAACP even when Republican moderates joined forces with the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Often portrayed in the media as a Republican maverick, McCain's civil rights record shows he is anything but that.
Those gestures, designed to soften McCain's public image, cannot hide his awful record on civil rights.
In 11 grading periods since he began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1983 and the Senate in 1987, McCain has earned an F for every period, according to an annual report by the NAACP.
Of the 11 grading periods, McCain's highest score was 50 percent (1985-86), meaning he supported positions on legislation favored by the NAACP half of the time. His second-highest score was 40 percent (1997-1998). In the nine other grading periods, he supported the NAACP 30 percent of the time or less.
Instead of getting better on civil rights in recent years, McCain has grown worse. Since his unsuccessful 2000 bid for president, McCain voted with the NAACP just 27 percent of the time during the 107th Congress, 15 percent in the 108th Congress and an all-time low of 7 percent during the first session of the 109th Congress, which ended in 2006.
When he ran for president in 2000 and again this year, McCain refused to complete a questionnaire submitted to presidential candidates by the NAACP and turned down invitations to address the national conventions of both the NAACP and the National Urban League.
Even Ronald Reagan, who went to court to invalidate voluntary affirmative-action programs, and George W. Bush, who often clashes with civil rights leaders, have addressed the two groups.
After addressing the NAACP last Wednesday in Cincinnati and another appearance scheduled for the National Urban League in Orlando, McCain's record will speak louder than anything he will have to say. An examination of McCain's years in Washington shows that he opposed initiatives favored by the NAACP even when Republican moderates joined forces with the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Often portrayed in the media as a Republican maverick, McCain's civil rights record shows he is anything but that.
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