McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Civil Rights

Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will be able to reach out to African American
communities

WASHINGTON, April 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- John McCain's campaign has
suggested that he is a different kind of Republican who can reach out to
voters his party traditionally ignores. To prove the point, the campaign is
planning what it calls a "Compassion Tour," which will include courting
African American voters in places like Alabama and inner city neighborhoods.
In reality, no campaign tour can gloss over McCain's dismal record on civil
rights issues throughout his 25 years in Washington.

Time and time again, McCain was on the wrong side of key debates when it
mattered most. In addition to his opposition to a federal holiday honoring Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., McCain was the deciding vote against overriding
President Bush's veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act -- the first defeat of a
major civil rights bill in a quarter of a century. To make matters worse, just
last weekend McCain defended the vote by equating it to "quotas," even though
the bill had nothing to do with quotas.

With a record like that, no wonder McCain is working so hard to reinvent
himself for the general election.

McCain Voted Against Civil Rights Act of 1990 -- Which Failed By One Vote.
McCain voted to uphold President Bush's veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act. The
veto override fell one vote short of the necessary 67 votes, and thus the
legislation died -- the first major civil rights bill to be defeated in the
last quarter century. It would have expanded the reach of several
discrimination laws that had been narrowed or overturned by the Supreme Court,
as well as authorizing monetary damages under title VII of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, which prevents employment discrimination. McCain had also twice
previously voted against the conference report version of the bill. [1990
Senate Vote #276, 10/16/1990; 1990 Senate Vote #304, 10/24/1990; 1990 CQ
Almanac, p. 60-S]

McCain Uses Loaded Term "Quotas" to Defend Vote. "WALLACE: You're here today
at the Civil Rights Museum, but it has come to our attention that in 1983 you
voted against the federal holiday for Martin Luther King. You voted in 1990
against civil rights legislation. Isn't it going to be hard to reach out to
all those groups given your history and the history of the party? MCCAIN:
Well, let me say in 1983 I was wrong, and I believe that my advocacy for the
recognition of Dr. King's birthday in Arizona was something that I'm proud of.
The issue in the early '90s was a little more complicated. I've never believed
in quotas, and I don't. There's no doubt about my view on that issue. And that
was the implication, at least, of that other vote." [Fox News Sunday, 4/6/08]

Bill Would Not Have Created Quotas. "Proponents of the bill contend that it
essentially would have restored the law of employment discrimination that had
been in force for nearly two decades, prior to six recent Supreme Court
rulings that made it more difficult for minorities and women to win
discrimination suits. They strongly dispute the contention that the new law
would result in quotas." [Washington Post, 10/23/90]

Quota Opponent Says Bill Was Not a Quota. "Thomas Homburger of the
Anti-Defamation League, noting the strong opposition Jews historically have
had to numerical preferences and quotas of any type, said, 'this act is simply
not a quota bill.'" [Washington Post, 10/23/90]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking
in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican
Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail
McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even
contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate
Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The
Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the
man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Damien LaVera of the DNC, +1-202-863-8148