Memphis, TN– Praising Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a man whose message will be “heard and understood” for ages, Sen. John McCain apologized Friday for once voting against a national holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader.

“Sometimes…we can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake I myself made long ago…when I voted against a federal holiday in memory of Dr. King. I was wrong, I was wrong…I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time, in time to give full support, full support for a state holiday in my home state of Arizona,” McCain said to scattered boos and jeers from the rain-soaked crowd of hundreds on the 40th anniversary of the King assassination. “I’d remind you that…we can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing and Dr. King understood this about his fellow Americans.” (FULL REMARKS AFTER JUMP)

Speaking to the mostly African American audience less than 50 feet below the balcony where King was shot, McCain said that, “even in this most idealistic of nations, we do not always take kindly to being reminded of what more we can do, or how much better we can be, or who else can (be included) in the promise of America.”

During the portion of the speech where he expressed regret over his vote, one member of the crowd could also be heard shouting, “we all make mistakes, we all make mistakes.”

McCain has said repeatedly that he regrets his 1983 vote and began to advocate for a state referendum in support of a holiday by 1990. Arizona eventually passed the referenda and began commemorating the holiday in 1993. More details on his history with MLK here

While members of the crowd I spoke with after the speech said they were satisfied with the speech, the Democratic National Committee is aggressively attacking McCain on the issue today. “It’s frankly disingenuous for John McCain to try and reinvent himself for the general election by distorting his record of opposing a holiday honoring Dr. King. John McCain should be honest about his full record of opposing the federal holiday, opposing a state holiday four years later, using divisive language to defend himself, and voting to cut off funding for the commission working to promote the King holiday as recently as 1994,” said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney in a statement.

The McCain campaign plans to continue outreach to the African-American community and other minority groups with a tour later this month of places “not usually visited by Republicans,” according to advisers. Among the places he is set to visit are rural Alabama, Louisiana, the Applachia and possibly some inner-city areas.

UPDATE–4:17 p.m. : RNC Spokesman Danny Diaz responds to DNC attack on McCain: “It is both sad and disturbing that the Democratic National Committee would use Dr. King’s name in a political attack as Americans are celebrating his legacy.”
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Memphis, TN — Sen. John McCain may face questions about his civil rights record as he visits Memphis Friday to participate in a number of events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination.

Scheduled to address the Southern Christian Leadership Conference–which King headed up for more than a decade–as well as lay a wreath at the National Civil Rights Museum, McCain’s initial opposition to a holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader could be among the issues that come up during his trip.

In his first year in the U.S. House, McCain voted with the minority and opposed the 1983 law creating the national holiday to honor King, but reversed his decision around 1990 after he says he “learned” more about King’s achievements. As he fought for an Arizona state ballot measure to recognize MLK Day in 1990, McCain successfully pushed former President Reagan to endorse the referendum.

McCain has said on a number of occasions that he regrets his original 1983 vote and told reporters this week that he is “very proud” of his record of support for King.

“I voted in my…first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me. And I not only supported it but I fought very hard in my home state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party,” McCain said during a media availability aboard his plane Monday (video above). “I had not been involved in the issue. I had come from being in the military to running for Congress in a state that did not have a very large African American population and it had not been in issue. It just simply had not been.”

In a February 2000 interview with ABC News, McCain said his initial opposition to a holiday was based on his belief that “it was not necessary to have another federal holiday, that it cost too much money, that other presidents were not recognized.”

Asked on Monday why he shifted his position and later supported a state measure creating a holiday, McCain told reporters that he “learned (that King) was a transcendent figure in American history. He deserved to be honored and that I thought it was appropriate to do so.”

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