A Times Editorial

McCain flag apology extraordinary

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 21, 2000

In an extraordinary political confession, John McCain returned to the scene of his most crushing campaign defeat this week to apologize for putting political expediency ahead of principle in his failure to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse when he campaigned in that state's presidential Republican primary.

"I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary," McCain said in a speech in Columbia. "So I chose to compromise my principles. I broke my promise to always tell the truth."

What McCain did is almost unheard of in modern politics, and it is a reminder of why so many voters were attracted to his candidacy. Can anyone imagine Al Gore or George W. Bush admitting that they have put politics ahead of principle in seeking the nation's highest office?

McCain's words speak more eloquently than anything we could say about his political character or the flag issue. The following are excerpts from his speech as recorded by the New York Times:

I made several mistakes in my campaign. I regret them, but I can live with their consequences because I believe them to have been simple errors of judgment and not an unprincipled act. Only once, I believe, did I act in an unprincipled way. But once is enough, and I want to tell the people of South Carolina and all Americans that I sincerely regret breaking my promise to always tell you the truth

My ancestors fought for the Confederacy, and I am sure that many, maybe all of them, fought with courage and with faith that they were serving a cause greater than themselves. But I don't believe their service, however distinguished, needs to be commemorated in a way that offends, that deeply hurts, people whose ancestors were once denied their freedom by my ancestors.

Those ancestors of mine might have fought honorably, they might have fought to uphold a principle they believed was just. But they fought to sever the union of our great nation, a cause that would have terribly harmed America, perhaps irreparably, and, for a time at least, perpetuated the grave injustice of slavery. They fought on the wrong side of American history. That, my friends, is how I personally feel about the Confederate battle flag. That is the honest answer I never gave to a fair question

As I admitted, I should have done this earlier, when an honest answer could have affected me personally. I did not do so for one reason alone. I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So, I chose to compromise my principles. I broke my promise to always tell the truth

I will be criticized by all sides for my late act of contrition. I accept it, all of it. I deserve it. Honesty is easy after the fact, when my interests are no longer involved. I don't seek absolution. Like anyone else, I can only try to resist future temptations to abandon principle for expediency and hope that in the end my character is judged from the totality of my life and not by its flaws alone.

Mark this day on your calendar when one politician dared to speak the truth.

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