Discrimination Victims Giving Unwarranted Legitimacy To McCain's Awful Record On Discrimination Votes

Groups that have been the targets of the lifetime voting record of John McCain supporting racial and sexual orientation discrimination have been recently giving the senator some undeserved legitimacy. Last year, only Republican candidate, Tom Tancredo, bothered to attend last Summer's NACCP convention. Many conservative politicians like McCain probably viewed this as an important rebuff to the progressive platform of social reforms long advocated by the NAACP that McCain has long opposed both as a congressman and U.S. senator. Now that McCain is running for president, he plans to attend the NAACP convention this Summer to pander for votes, although there are no signs that McCain now supports most important social goals of the NAACP..

John McCain has had one of the most consistent records in Congress and the U.S. Senator of opposing job discrimination bills and other civil rights legislation. He even opposed establishing any holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Then McCain made an appeal to the African American community earlier this year offering an apology for voting against the Dr. King holiday legislation in Selma, Alabama on Dr. King's birthday, but offered no apology for a lifetime of opposition to civil rights legislation, or any new commitment to now support civil rights legislation as president. McCain would be far more likely to veto civil rights legislation as president than any president in modern American history. Periodically some civil rights legislation needs to be renewed by congress, and McCain has had one of the worst records of support for any civil rights legislation of any type of anyone in either the Congress or the U.S. Senate.

And the McCain record on protection of rights for the Gay community is much worse. McCain at first accepted the support of radical antGay community Pastor John Hagee, who often refers to the Gay community as "degenerates". McCain wanted the votes of right wing bigots who hate the Gay community. McCain even opposed hate crimes legislation to protect the Gay community from violence. McCain is strongly opposed to any notion of legal Gay marriage. Then last week, John McCain shows up on THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, the openly Gay comic host who intends to make use of the California Supreme Court decision that allows for legal Gay marriages. Maybe Ellen Degeneres simply viewed McCain as only another celebrity guest, but bringing him on her TV show only gave more unwarranted legitimacy to the awful McCain record on discrimination issues and made McCain appear acceptable to some of her viewers.

Both the NAACP and Ellen Degeneres have unfortunately given John McCain too much "cheap grace" recently. Allowing someone with such a terrible record on discrimination issues a platform to speak only offers a politician with one of the most bigoted records in Congress or the U.S. Senate some measure of acceptance with voters that he has not earned and does not deserve. McCain claim's to be a "Barry Goldwater" type conservative. But even Barry Goldwater offered a far higher degree of at least some support for both civil rights legislation as well as a more tolerant view towards the Gay community. McCain's record is simply one of hard core right wing bigotry, and so far McCain has offered nothing to prove that this will change. Aad McCain intends to choose Supreme Court judges based on right wing ideology, not their qualifications, which will also have serious ramifications for many issues dealing with discrimination.

Unlike George Bush who doesn't seem to have any racist instincts, despite his very conservative political ideology, McCain's voting record in Congress can be summed up as being very racist and even worse on Gay community issues. Neither group has a thing to gain if McCain is elected president. McCain is nothing but trouble for social advancement in America. A lifetime of bigotry doesn't warrant awarding the presidency as a prize.