In the 2000 presidential race, John McCain saw the South Carolina primary as a key contest, following his big win over Bush in New Hampshire. To help boost his standing, McCain shamelessly abandoned his opposition to the Confederate battle flag and agreed with GOP primary voters that the flag was merely about honoring Southern heritage, despite having said the opposite before the primary. Amazingly, after he left the race, McCain switched again, going back to his original position.
Now, of course, McCain is hoping to curry favor in South Carolina again. How far will he goes this time? According to TNR’s Franklin Foer, pretty far.
[McCain spokesman Richard Quinn] described McCain as a “strong advocate for the [Martin Luther] King Day” in Arizona. What makes this so stunning? In the 2000 race, McCain took heat for working with Quinn, who once edited the neo-Confederate journal The Southern Partisan.
You may recall that this journal published apologias for slavery and that Quinn once advocated voting for David Duke. During McCain’s contentious primary race with Bush, McCain declined to distance himself from Quinn. He claimed no knowledge of Quinn’s writings. But a lot of time has passed since then. By now, McCain should have taken the opportunity to thumb through Quinn’s work. I’m sure that McCain very badly wants the presidency. Does he really want it this badly?
McCain doesn’t have much of an excuse this time. When confronted with quotes from his campaign aide five years ago, McCain had plausible deniability. Now, not so much.
We’re not just talking about borderline-controversial comments from a South Carolina activist. McCain hired Quinn despite a disturbing record that includes Quinn condemning Martin Luther King, Jr., describing Nelson Mandela as a “terrorist,” and discounting the evils of slavery.
Quinn can believe as he pleases, but how does McCain justify hiring him as a top-level campaign staffer — twice?
It fits in nicely with the realization that McCain denounced Jerry Falwell in 2000 and as “agent of intolerance,” but now wants to smooth things over with the radical TV preacher.
Does he want to win this badly? Apparently so.
