John McCain has "pretty well zero relationship" with African Americans in his home state, says one prominent civil rights leader, and many others say they've never even gotten their senior senator's attention—much less met him. McCain's perceived indifference may be one thing in Arizona, and quite another in the event of a general election in which he faces Barack Obama.
McCain has trouble “feigning interest” in issues he doesn’t have a personal interest in, Jonathan Martin waxes in Politico, and he spent most of the tumultuous '60s as a POW far removed from the civil rights movement. Arizona’s black community is mostly wealthy expats—exactly the type a Republican could convert—but Mac is MIA, something he plans to tackle by touring depressed black areas this month. (More John McCain stories.)