Presidential candidates have found that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which is Monday, comes at an opportune time this year — in the midst of the primary-election season. It gives them a chance to reaffirm their support for civil rights.

And well they should. Through his eloquent speeches, appeals to religion and conscience, and nonviolent activism, Dr. King helped correct monumental injustices.

We are glad to see that Democratic candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama seem to have gotten past their silly spats about civil rights. Both have strong records on that issue.

They — a white woman and a black man — wouldn’t be serious candidates for president this year without the laws (and, more important, changes in people’s attitudes) initiated in the last half-century.

It is equally silly to argue about whether to give credit for those reforms to people like Dr. King who inspired and troubled us, or people like President Lyndon B. Johnson who pushed bills through Congress. We need both kinds of leaders.

LBJ was no match for Dr. King in eloquence, but even Dr. King reportedly wept on March 15, 1965, when the president concluded a speech to Congress with the words “... And we shall overcome.”

The main shortcoming of some politicians who embrace Martin Luther King Day is that they are slow to commit to some of Dr. King’s other causes, such as helping poor people and getting out of useless and crippling wars.