While campaigning, presumed GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona was touring Alabama. McCain was starting his “It’s Time for Action,” tour. To start off with his tour, McCain has decided to try to reach out to the African-American voting bloc, the key voting bloc of the Democratic Party. However, reaching out to the African-American voters is something that is easier said than done in the case of John McCain.
McCain would bring up the “Bloody Sunday” event where civil rights activists clashed with state troopers. On February, 17, 2008, Reverend James Orange had passed away in Atlanta, Georgia’s Crawford Long Hospital. The Bloody Sunday march was triggered after the arrest of James Orange, who was getting students to help him with the voting rights drives. Orange was arrested and jailed for disorderly conduct and contributing to the delinquency of minors.
One young African-American male named Jimmie Lee Johnson was shot in the stomach during Bloody Sunday and died 26 days later. This event had caused many such as Martin Luther King Jr. to organize numerous civil rights marches.
James B. Fowler, the former state trooper that shot Johnson was indicted in 2007.
McCain would recall the events of Bloody Sunday. He also took notice that African-Americans were not present in the audience. McCain would then talk about his experiences working with people from numerous communities and ethnic backgrounds in the country.
He acknowledged that there will not be many that will vote for him. McCain admitted that he won’t have many African-Americans voting for him. However, he said he will listen to be people regardless if they voted for him or not. He added that African-Americans make up a small part of the Republican vote.
McCain said that in his tour, he would go past party lines and address Americans. He said that if he understands America’s problems, he will be a far better president. This could possibly be a jab at Democratic frontrunners Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.