The issue: Sen. John McCain is coming to Selma.

Our position: We welcome the senator and presumptive Republican nominee for president.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona comes to our city today. The presumptive Republican nominee for president will speak tomorrow.

We do not know what he will say or the exact reason for his visit, except that it’s a &8220;Take Time for Action&8221; tour.

The idea behind this tour is to listen to concerns from people in the United State who struggle. McCain’s campaign says this is a way to move toward action.

This area of Alabama, the Black Belt, generally is ignored by Republicans. After all, it is predominately black and poor and Republican candidates do not cater generally to either.

Most of the time, candidates work hard for the money, and there is not much of that for the giving here in the Black Belt.

But Sen. McCain is not like most Republicans. He has become popular among voters in the nation because

he’s a populist.

He has fought for the average citizen in various ways, including pointing out who lies, cheats and steals in business, Congress, the labor movement or the military complex.

His no-nonsense, straight talking has won friends and supporters who do not necessarily hold to the Republican Party line.

Especially, down here in the South, that old populist stump speaking means a lot. We like to hear our leaders talk about things we feel.

This week, he lambasted the greedy folks on Wall Street for our financial problems. McCain quite rightly pointed out that the little guy &8212; most of us who will be standing in front of the Bridgetender’s House to hear him speak Monday morning &8212; will have to pay when the recession hits, while the folks who caused the problems because they wanted to get rich off the backs of the sub-prime speculation will walk away clean.

But that’s only a portion of what the senator has stood for. He’s taken on a ton of little guy-type issues that win over the hearts and minds of the middle class &8212; unethical behavior in Congress and tobacco companies that hook kids on a killing substance.

We look forward to seeing the senator reach out to the Black Belt on his tour through the state this week.