McCain Repudiates Confederate Flag...Again

According to an AP report on AOL News, John McCain stood by his opposition to the flying of the Confederate Flag over the South Carolina Capitol. He was questioned about it at a town-hall style meeting:

McCain was confronted about the 2000 dispute at a town-hall style meeting by a questioner who said, "I'm one of the guys passing out the papers" and he believed McCain's position was wrong.

McCain said he "could not be more proud of the majority of the people of this state" who agreed the flag should be removed. Although the questioner, who identified himself as John William Hill, 51, of Charleston, got some scattered applause for his question, McCain's response produced a wave of applause that drowned out further comments from his critic.

Later, McCain told reporters, "I believe the issue has been resolved in the minds of the overwhelming majority of the people of South Carolina. You can tell from the crowd reaction. They don't want it reopened."

This, on the heels of an unwelcome injection of race into the Democratic primary, presents an interesting bookend to that story. The episode puts me in mind of this moment at the GOP Youtube Debate, which I'll go into, along with McCain's stand, after the jump. While watching the debate, I and many others were dismayed by the ugly tenor of many of the questions, and of the crowd's reactions. While it seemed likely to me that CNN chose its mix of questions, in part, to play to stereotypes of the GOP base, it is also tough to argue that they weren't representative of that base. This question, however, really seemed out of place, designed to elicit fireworks.

I was very proud of Mitt Romney's answer, except for the part where he gratuitously slams the Democrats, because his repudiation was complete, with no wink to "historical significance." Fred Thompson's answer was a little more parsed, allowing for those who would excuse the display for its military significance, but also defeating more directly the passive-agressive logic implicit in the question.

There may be a temptation here to draw a contrast between McCain's position on the Confederate flag, versus the recent "racial tension" in the Democratic Primary contest, which was mainly a creation of the media and campaign surrogates. While superficially illustrative, a closer look reveals a different picture.

McCain undeniably did the right thing, both in 2000 and now, but that doesn't erase his Party's record of exploiting race and enacting policies that have been disastrous to minorities in this country. It doesn't erase the fact that he needs to even have a position on the Confederate flag. It doesn't erase McCain's own refusal, and that of his fellow candidates Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney, to attend a forum at historically black Morgan State University.

Furthermore, McCain's remarks seemed to frame his position as a matter of consensus rather than conscience. That is not to say his position is not heartfelt. It does say that he wishes to stop short of alienating those who would wave the rebel banner. Given his reputation as a self-styled "straight talker", I would not have expected McCain to stop short of anything.

The real contrast here is a Republican Party that has reached the point of repudiating a symbol of lynching and hatred, versus a Democratic Party that features a black Presidential candidate and a woman running for the highest office. Where do the congratulations go?

Neither side should break its arms patting themselves on the back, nor should the rest of America. As the ease with which the race angle gained traction demonstrates, we have come far, we still have far to go, and it is taking far too long. We live in the United States of America. Let's act like it.

Update: Here's an older video from Brave New Films in which McCain shows his own feelings at some point.

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