… Home being, in this case, the conservative side of the Republican Party, or perhaps not “side” but the great swath of Republican voters not represented on many issues by Senators Specter, Chafee, et. al.
Today in the Washington Post Byron York has an interesting article about Sen. McCain’s attempt to enlist the support of Jerry Falwell and his followers (and, interestingly, Falwell’s attempt to regain some influence in the party). As is usual with York, it’s a good article, covering a wide range of issues from abortion and gay marriage to fiscal responsibility, the war in Iraq, and the war against terror.
Notably missing, however, from this list of issues where conservatives are seeking reassurance — and hence where Sen. McCain is trying to reassure them — is any reference at all to the rampant racial preference policies that have made a mockery of the formerly core American value that individuals should be treated without regard to their race, religion, or ethnicity.
I blame conservatives for Sen. McCain’s silence on this issue more than I blame Sen. McCain. If they don’t ask him about this, it’s almost foolish to expect him to answer, especially when his answer (I hope) would offend those weasely weak-in-the-knee Republicans such as those at the top of the Michigan Republican Party, who are opposing the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.
If asked, Sen. McCain might well try to dodge the issue by saying, as York quotes him explaining his opposition, so far, to a federal marriage amendment, “I’m a federalist. I believe that a state ought to decide what happens within that state.” To which any questioner should reply, “Oh, really? Then you think the 1964 Civil Rights Act barring racial discrimination was a mistake because it interered, as it did, with states’ rights?”
Senator McCain has a reputation for fearless bluntness. If he won’t speak out in support of so basic a principle as the right to be treated without regard to race — and in places where it matters, such as Michigan as it prepares to vote on MCRI — then that is a reputation he doesn’t deserve.
Maybe he’ll explain his position with more clarity at his commencement speech at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University today. Senator McCain once had a comment or two about “tolerance” and the good Reverend.
–Cobra