McCain Learning Curve; MLK, Rebel Flag, Slavery

After stories by David Knowles and Caleb Howe on Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's awakening on the subject of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which he voted against even as Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich voted for it. I was put in mind of several of the candidate's other epiphanies. Caleb called for forgiveness in his article, a reasonable request, to be sure.

Forgiveness is not something that even requires the trespasser to ask for it. Even so, many will judge McCain by the sincerity of his regret. I am willing to take him at face value for purposes of this discussion, although the video below may make it seem otherwise.

Even if McCain is to be forgiven his opposition to the King holiday, does that mean he will be ready, on day one, to take this country away from the path that 81% of Americans say is in the wrong direction? Although he may or may not have had a sincere change of heart, can America afford to have a president that's always this slow on the uptake, this late to the party?


My colleague, David Knowles, correctly points out that McCain was 47 in 1983, the year he voted against the King holiday. He makes a good case that McCain's excuse that he didn't know enough about King at the time strains credibility. The fact that he didn't support the holiday until 1990, that would make him 54, completely collapses it.

In 1990, Arizonans were given an opportunity to vote to observe an MLK holiday. McCain successfully appealed to former President Ronald Reagan to support the holiday. In a letter to voters, Reagan wrote that he hoped Arizonans would "join me in supporting a holiday to commemorate these ideals to which Dr. King dedicated his life."

Better late than never, I suppose, but does it speak well of his ability to lead on current issues? Well, maybe he kept up with the class on the Confederate Flag.
That's great! He even came through again this year, taking heat for this bold stand:

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."

That's not the same thing as denouncing the flag. He's saying he's proud of the people's decision. Still, let's give him that, we'll mark McCain's "Road to Damascus" moment re: the Confederate Flag at 2002, 2 years after he stopped saying "gook" in public, but 5 years before he retired "tar baby".

What about the issue of slavery? Well, I am proud to report that John McCain didn't just talk about slavery, he took action. In 2007.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Wednesday the Senate should apologize for slavery and segregation, calling them "dark chapters in our history."

Perhaps work on this important bill is what caused the "scheduling conflict" that kept him from showing up to the candidates' forum at historically black Morgan State University in September.

As it turns out, McCain may be ahead of the curve, or at least of state and national politicians. To date, only 6 states have apologized for slavery, and the US Senate has not. In fact, I was unable to locate any proposed bill based on McCain's courageous call to action last October. Still, assuming this was sincere, and not a toothless pander, that puts his awakening on slavery at 137 years in the making.

It's nice to know that, even at age 71, John McCain is still teachable, but it is little comfort for those of us looking for a president to lead us somewhere besides the wrong war.