McCain's sexist, racist, homophobic record

John McCain calls himself a maverick but when it comes to his positions on race, gender, and sexuality, his views either line up with or are to the right of those of George W. Bush. In case the fact that he wants to spend "a hundred years" in Iraq, fighting endlessly regardless of whether or not we can ever achieve anything in the way of a goal there isn't enough, his racist, sexist and homophobic views may give us all even more reason to oppose his candidacy.

To familiarize ourselves with McCain's position on women's issues, we may want to look at the Republican platform, which according to the National Organization of Women (NOW), "supports a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would undo Roe v. Wade, and legislation granting Fourteenth Amendment rights to "unborn children," which would treat an abortion as murder in all fifty states. The platform also declares allegiance to the global gag rule, rejects the ratification of CEDAW and calls for increased funding for abstinence-only education." In addition, McCain has opposed legislation which would require equal pay for equal work and take on the wage gap that results in [white] women getting only 77 cents on the dollar a [white] man makes. Women of color make even less. According to the National Organization of Women, "African-American women [are] paid only 71 cents and Latinas just 58 cents on... [a white man's] dollar."

With regard to his racist views, Mccain voted repeatedly against making Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday and even after the law was passed, supported the then Arizona governor's decision to rescind the state's observation of the holiday in his state. Additionally, according to the New York Times (2000) McCain has argued that the confederate flag is a symbol of heritage not racism. He also voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990 four times.

As for his views on gay right, according to the Human Rights Campaign, "like President Bush, Senator McCain opposes equal benefits for same-sex couples. Like President Bush, Senator McCain opposes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit discrimination against GLBT Americans in the workplace. Like President Bush, Senator McCain opposes expanding the hate crimes act to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Like President Bush, Senator McCain supports the military’s discriminatory "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy."

What more do we need to know about this man?