McCain Hits Obama On School Vouchers
(ORLANDO, Fla.) – In an address to the National Urban League, John McCain employed the same line of attack on Barack Obama that he used when he spoke to the NAACP a couple of weeks ago, saying of the Democrat's education policies, "his ideas are not as impressive as his rhetoric."
"In remarks to the American Federation of Teachers last month, Sen. Obama dismissed public support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans as 'tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice.' All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools?" McCain asked. "If Sen. Obama continues to defer to the teachers unions, instead of committing to real reform, then he should start looking for new slogans."
McCain was also asked about his recent comments supporting a ban on affirmative action in his home state of Arizona, a question that received a round of applause from the audience. "Affirmative action is in the eye of the beholder," McCain said. "I do not, and Americans have rejected, a quota system. And that, frankly, is something that I don't think helps anyone and has not helped anyone."
He said that he will continue to fight for equal opportunity, and held up the military as an example. "I think still the best equal opportunity employer in America today is the United States military," he said, to some grumbling from the audience. "I'm proud of the equal opportunity the United States military provides to everyone. And we don't do it by quotas."