Thread: Candidate McCain Sells Out Hispanics

Candidate McCain Sells Out Hispanics

McCain has no convictions. He will support any issue to be elected president

WASHINGTON (By Daniel González and Dan Nowicki, Arizona Republic) November 8, 2007 — Sen. John McCain has changed his position on immigration reform, hoping the new stand will make his presidential campaign more appealing to conservative Republican voters.

The comprehensive approach he championed for years, one that emphasized a guest-worker program and legalization for those here illegally, has taken a back seat to a plan that puts a priority on tightening border security and beefing up enforcement.

The enforcement-first approach marks a dramatic shift for McCain, R-Ariz., who used his border-state credentials and maverick persona to become the leading Republican proponent in Congress of comprehensive immigration reform. But the comprehensive plan, which failed to move through Congress again this summer, divided the GOP and unleashed an anti-amnesty grass-roots movement vehemently opposed to letting undocumented immigrants gain legal status, even if they had to earn it.

His support of this year's bill hurt his ability to raise money and led to a precipitous drop in support in many early-voting states.

His campaign has been gaining momentum this fall, but McCain's newfound emphasis on border security is unlikely to sell his presidential campaign to voters clamoring for more border controls, political experts and analysts say.

"Too little, too late," said John J. "Jack" Pitney Jr., a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. "I think Republican primary voters have made up their minds on that one. He came out on the wrong side at the wrong time."

The shift also opens McCain up to attacks from GOP opponents who have staked out get-tough stances on unauthorized immigration.

"McCain's reputation is a straight shooter. I'm sure his Republican opponents will characterize this as flip-flopping. They will say it's unclear where McCain stands," said John Garcia, a political-science professor at the University of Arizona.

What's more, McCain's tougher stance could hurt him among Latino voters, whose support could be key to winning the nomination.

Last month, for example, McCain skipped a vote that would have allowed the so-called DREAM Act to move forward in the Senate. McCain was a co-sponsor of the bill, which would have let some undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children earn legal status.

"I was very disappointed," said Luis Avila, an Arizona State University student who organized a hunger strike this fall in support of the DREAM Act. "McCain is supposed to be this maverick who stands up for his beliefs. I saw that he is not that man. . . . It also shows that he is not concerned about the Hispanic vote."

McCain was in Washington on the day of the vote, having canceled campaign events in New Hampshire so he could vote on a judicial nomination. He left Washington after that vote and before the DREAM Act vote. The day before, he suggested that he was being realistic about the bill's fate.

"I'm for it," McCain said. "But we're not going to pass anything through Congress until 2009. Everybody knows that. . . . We had the immigration-reform debate. The wounds are still open, and, unfortunately, it's going to be 2009 before we bring it up again."

McCain's tougher stance on immigration reform is obvious on the campaign trail, when he is frequently grilled about immigration.

"What can you do to convince me that you will do something to stem the flow of unauthorized immigrants across our southern border?" Chuck Navin asked during a campaign event in Hampton, N.H., on the eve of the DREAM Act vote.

Navin, a retired Navy captain and Republican-leaning independent voter, supported McCain in New Hampshire's 2000 primary but parted with McCain over his collaboration with Democrats on comprehensive immigration reform.

McCain gave him the same answer that he has given many times since the defeat of the Senate bill: that he learned his lesson.

"I will secure the borders before we do anything else," McCain said. "The borders have to be secured. I got the message. Got it."

The passionate reaction to the reform reflects the public's deep mistrust of the government to enforce immigration laws. To help restore confidence, McCain proposes that the four border-state governors certify the border is secure before Congress can proceed with other needed reforms, such as a temporary-worker program.

He continues to advocate for "a comprehensive solution" to address the estimated 12 million people in the country illegally, many of whom entered legally but overstayed visas. But the legalization plan he now favors is tougher than the one he first introduced in 2003 and then again in 2005 with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. That plan would have let most undocumented immigrants earn legal status by paying fines, learning English and paying taxes while still remaining in the U.S.

"Some would have to go back," McCain said last month. "Others would have to go back to the country they came from - 'touchback,' we call it - before they can come back and get in line behind everybody else and learn English and pay fines, etcetera. Because we cannot reward anyone, no matter how good a person they are, for having acted illegally and put them in front of people who have come here legally."

Navin later said he appreciated McCain's "straight answer" but wasn't entirely won over.

"He said, 'Hey, I got the message we need to secure our borders,' " Navin said. "Well, yeah, it took him long enough to figure it out. Like I told him, he was my candidate eight years ago, and he would be today, but this issue is too important to me."

http://hispanic.cc/candidate_mccain_sel ... panics.htm

I wouldn't trust mcMoron as far as I could throw him

If we are going to battle CIR again I'd rather do it with
Hillary or Obama

Scratch Obama , as per Drudge , I don't think we'd have to
worry about him for long

McNutcase is a lying worm...I would vote for Bush again before him!!! What a sick PSYCHO!

It's all double talk! McCain is saying he will secure the borders first, and then he will give amnesty to 38M IA's! He's not selling out the hispanics...he's just making them wait a little longer. In the meantime, the delay will give millions more a chance to slither over the unsecured border. We had the Secure Fence Act passed...but NOTHING happened. And NOTHING is going to happen!

The 2008 version of the "Axis of Evil" is now the "Axis of Amnesty"...McCain, Clinton, and Obama. The question should be...which one do you want to carry out the plan?

For the first time in my life, I think I will sit this one out! We will be having a big turnover in Congress, and all we can do is turn our efforts over to electing anti-amnesty people.

At least Conservatives can stand and fight with all their might against a Prez. Hillary rather than be forced to go along with the amnesty plans of a Prez McCain. The Republican Senators would not stand against McCain simply because...."the people elected him."

I still don't think any amnesty will come from either party the first term, just like the dems will NOT withdraw the troops. They tried to push defeat off on the Republicans but they will not allow defeat to be under them. Just like amnesty, the dems will not push it unless the Republicans go along because they do NOT want to have all the problems of amnesty on their shoulders. They will not accept all the blame.

I don't think an amnesty will be tried before a second term because they do not want to risk their political capital on a risky venture like amnesty, a disaster waiting to happen.

ALL candidates have talked about securing the border and they MUST be held to it. If they don't do this, they risk losing a second term.

I will secure the borders before we do anything else," McCain said. "The borders have to be secured. I got the message. Got it."

He's got it, huh? Yea, right. After 911, he couldn't think to seal the borders himself, not to mention all of the other nitwits in our federal government. If it took him this long to figure things out even after we the American people had to shout it in his ear back in June of '07, then maybe he won't be quick enough on the draw as President. THAT could put us in a pretty bad situation. Having a President that is slow is not what we need.