McCain reverses course on affirmative action, crosses flip-flop threshold

July 27, 2008

John McCain was for affirmative action before he was against it.

ABC News’ Teddy Davis and Kevin Kilbane Report: During a “This Week” interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos John McCain reversed himself on affirmative action and endorsed for the first time a proposed state ballot measure which would end race and gender-based affirmative action in his home state of Arizona.

“I support it,” McCain declared when asked about the referendum. “I do not believe in quotas… I have not seen the details of some of these proposals. But I’ve always opposed quotas.”

McCain has long opposed quotas but his new support for ending affirmative action programs which stop short of quotas puts him at odds not only with Democratic rival Barack Obama but also with the Arizona senator’s own views in 1998.

Back then, when the legislature in McCain’s home state of Arizona considered sending the voters a measure to end affirmative action, McCain spoke out against it calling it “divisive.”

“This is clearly an election-year flip flop and a pander to a skeptical right-wing base,” said John Kraus, spokesman for the liberal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. “He has put politics first on this issue. There is no other way around it.”

And with this reversal, the Official John McCain Flip-Flop List reaches 70. When I first started pulling these together, it never occurred to me, even once, that the list would get this long.

And with this reversal, the Official John McCain Flip-Flop List reaches 70.

Soon he will reach his age.
But hush everyone… we don’t want his birthday cake in the oven to flop too.

  • McCain has invented “Quantum Politics”—with 10 dimensions of flip-flopping and a string-theory rendition of parsing….

  • Steve,
    I know you usually don’t respond to comments but I’ve been curious about the extent to which you are aware of journalists and other bloggers referring to your list of flip flops. To the other Carpetbaggerites (Carpetbaggerians?): Has anyone seen reference to it elsewhere?

  • I’ve been curious about the extent to which you are aware of journalists and other bloggers referring to your list of flip flops.

    I’m afraid the coverage in the traditional media has been limited. I’ve done a couple of radio interviews about the list, and I can think of a handful of mid-size newspapers that have mentioned it, but in general, the response has been underwhelming among journalists.

    Maybe I need a press secretary.

  • Great point about the uniqueness of this list (to my knowledge, it is practically the only one of its kind). In fact, I emailed the link to the Obama campaign as a handy reference for the multitude of McCain’s ever-changing (or should I say “evolving”) positions on a wide range of issues. For someone who tries to sell himself (with the media’s help) as someone of principle who is presumably willing to take unpopular stances, this list is simply staggering.

    I heard it said a while back that the McCain of 2000 wouldn’t vote for the McCain of 2008 — a rather damning analysis of one who is allegedly so unwavering…

  • Thanks for the response, Steve. Maybe if you and your friends at C&L made a video montage, set to music by will.i.am., and posted it on YouTube, it would go viral and you’d be famous (only partly kidding).

  • perhaps if each time a CB reader heard a talking head in the media (or read an alleged news article or opinion piece) say that McCain is a straight talker or had political courage, we could send them this – maybe in time after the reporters and pundits had received it a dozen times or so it will start to sink in?

  • In defense of McCain, this isn’t really a flip-flop. It’s more of a devolution of McCain’s understanding of law and policy. At one time, he seemed to understand that affirmative action does not require (and, in fact, rarely involves) the use of “quotas.” Now, like a good Republican, he “knows” that affirmative actions is quotas. But he’s not flip-flopping!

  • Every time McCain flip-flops, an angel gets its wings.

    An AMERICAN angel.

    Why do you all hate American angels so much?

  • Opposing an initiative in 1998 as Devisive and supporting it ten years later doesn’t mean he’s flipped. It just means that a decade ago he knew that it would be a bad idea to admit he opposes affirmative action and now he thinks it is a good idea to stand up for ending it.

    After all, affirmative action has to end SOMETIME. And since JSMcC*nt is working so hard to lose this election, why not at the same time that a Black man is elected President of the United States.

    Not talking about ending affirmative action in 1998 is like not talking about timelines before you leave. You don’t want to excite the enemy too early 😉

  • I want the job as press secretary! And geeze Benen, you forgot to mention the site was shown prominently for all of 2 seconds on The Colbert Report. Now that’s the big time, baby!

    And Zeitgeist that’s a great idea forwarding the list to every journalist or opinion writer who says McCain is honorable and willing to hold umpopular issues, etc and their usual fluffing of him.

  • Maybe if you and your friends at C&L made a video montage, set to music by will.i.am., and posted it on YouTube, it would go viral and you’d be famous…

    To the tune of John Barleycorn’s ‘Flip-Flopping Away’. The back beat will be made entirely by the chorus slapping flip-flops on the floor.

  • You might also add to your list Steve his flip-flop on Katrina investigations, where he said he was ‘always for them’ – except for the two chances he got to actually vote on them in the Senate, when he voted against them.

    I think we should be aiming for 100. The man’s producing fresh material every day.

  • Of COURSE he was for affirmative action… If it weren’t for affirmative action, he wouldn’t have gotten into the Naval Academy! You can’t deny entrance to the son and grandson of admirals just because he’s not qualified!

    Same thing goes for Bush and his acceptance to Yale… Can’t deny admission to legacies whose parents have big bucks…

  • I think we should be aiming for 100.

    Maybe you should put a counter on the flip-flop logo. Seems to be endless.

  • the picture on the left of John McIdiot hugging the war criminal-murderer king George II..”I get dizzy when I hug you and smell your underarm W”

    • Comments are closed.