Thread: McCain feels hurt by 'traitor' placard

Monday, June 18, 2007
McCain feels hurt by 'traitor' placard
By Scott Helman
Globe Staff

Senator John McCain of Arizona said today he is "guardedly optimistic" that the Senate's controversial immigration reform plan will pass Congress, but said he has been stunned by the personal attacks on him from conservatives angry about the bill.

"I'm still hopeful we can get it done," McCain said in a wide-ranging interview with reporters and editors at the The Boston Globe.

McCain, who acknowledges that his outspoken support for immigration reform is complicating his presidential campaign, relayed a story about attending a recent fund-raiser where protesters were standing outside holding signs that declared: "McCain -- traitor."

"I'm a pretty tough guy and I'm not asking for any sympathy," said McCain, a former Navy combat pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down in Vietnam. But, he added, "You see something like that and you think, `Wow, what would make these women ... think I'm a traitor?"

He also said the ugly debate over immigration reflected the "deterioration of the political discourse in America today." "It disappoints me so much," he said, and repeated, "It disappoints me so much."

McCain said that several of his Senate colleagues had proposed "killer amendments" designed to scuttle the immigration plan altogether. The bill, which President Bush helped craft, failed to advance on a key Senate vote earlier this month, but leading Democratic and Republican lawmakers say they will bring the legislation back to the floor in the coming days.

One of the toughest amendments, McCain said, is one that would require illegal immigrants to return to their home country before applying for a "Z visa," which the bill would create to allow them to legally work in the United States.

McCain conceded that some of the proposed amendments had some merit, making them especially threatening to an delicate compromise easily derailed by a last-minute change.

"There's something to them," he said. "That's what makes this tough."

McCain said conservatives who want to focus exclusively on securing America's borders are missing a major part of the problem: that 40 percent of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are here because they overstayed their visas, not because they sneaked across from Mexico.

McCain described how migrants and their families have died in the desert and been deceived by smugglers who promise to take them into America.

``It also has something to do with what kind of a nation we are," he said. "I don't know how you round up 12 million people. We don't have 12 million pairs of handcuffs, much less detention cells, etcetera."

McCain, who first ran for president in 2000, finds himself in a crowded Republican field this time around, a field that's only getting bigger. In addition to facing rivals such as Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, McCain is now facing a challenge from former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, a friend from the Senate and star of NBC's "Law & Order" who is poised to become the 11th Republican White House hopeful.

As he did in 2000, McCain has staked his candidacy in part on on his authenticity, often saying that it's more important to him to do what is right than to win an election. His support for immigration reform is hampering his outreach to conservatives, and his outspoken support for continuing the war in Iraq appears to be pushing independents away from him.

At the Globe McCain also talked at length about Iraq, reiterating his support for the president's plan to try to secure Baghdad with an additional 20,000 combat troops. He said none of the other proposed solutions for Iraq is a good one.

McCain said he "could not be more worried" about the prospect of peace between Palestinians and Israelis. He said that with fierce factional fighting among Palestinians, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and an emboldened Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, Israel is in greater danger now than it's been since its founding in 1947.


http://www.boston.com/news/politics/pol ... ls_hu.html

But he and many others do understand the power of the vote. His continuance to push this bill is political suicide. His run for president will need to be in Mexico because there won't be much support here.
I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!

Quote from article:

"McCain, who acknowledges that his outspoken support for immigration reform is complicating his presidential campaign, relayed a story about attending a recent fund-raiser where protesters were standing outside holding signs that declared: "McCain -- traitor."

"I'm a pretty tough guy and I'm not asking for any sympathy," said McCain, a former Navy combat pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down in Vietnam. But, he added, "You see something like that and you think, `Wow, what would make these women ... think I'm a traitor?"

He also said the ugly debate over immigration reflected the "deterioration of the political discourse in America today." "It disappoints me so much," he said, and repeated, "It disappoints me so much."

___________________


OMG ... A Traitor and a Moron!

You don't know why WE think you're a no-good low-down lyin-ass scum- bag TRAITOR?

Very simple.

You are cavorting with the enemy, TRAITOR.

Illegal immigration is an attack on US national security and sovereignty, MORON.

When you support illegal aliens, you are threatening the national security and sovereignty of the United States, undermining the domestic tranquility of our Nation, and undercutting the general welfare of the American People.

Anyone who needs this explained to them is unfit to represent the American People in any capacity let alone in the United States Senate or American White House.

McCain ... your political career here is ... over.

They may have a post for you somewhere in Mexico. Run on down and check it out. I'll buy your one-way bus ticket.

It is the truth you are a traitor, McCain, and the TRUTH does hurt!!!

Originally Posted by jean

``It also has something to do with what kind of a nation we are," he said. "I don't know how you round up 12 million people. We don't have 12 million pairs of handcuffs, much less detention cells, etcetera."

You take away their bird feed you moron!!! Oh but if you did that, your rich supporters would take away your bird feed. Well, it's time for you to start thinking of the people you swore to represent, and I don't mean the US Chamber of Commerce!!! We have more bird feed (votes) than them!!!

Oh and one more thing Jonnie boy, if it makes you feel any better, I also called up Reid, Boxer, Feinstein, Lott, McConnell, Kyle, Graham, Kennedy, and Bush, and called them all traitors also.

The shoe fits

McCain described how migrants and their families have died in the desert and been deceived by smugglers who promise to take them into America.

And how many Americans have died because illegal immigrants murdered them or drove drunk?

Originally Posted by razor

McCain described how migrants and their families have died in the desert and been deceived by smugglers who promise to take them into America.

And how many Americans have died because illegal immigrants murdered them or drove drunk?

Over 48,000 by murder or manslaughter since 9/11

He is not only a traitor, he is a COWARD! It matters not one iota what he did 30 years ago, right now he is a COWARD. I would fight to the death before I would hand this country over to a mob of Third World pond scum and that is exactly what he is doing.

You deserve every bit of it John McCain.

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