McCain Takes Double Talk Detour on Immigration Reform
January 30, 2008
Now that his win in Florida has thrust him back into frontrunner status, the voters are getting another look at John McCain's do-anything-to-win campaign strategy. On issue after issue, including his own signature immigration reform bill, the John McCain who once had a reputation for sticking to his principles no matter the cost has been replaced with the opportunistic John McCain who has set aside his principles.
Before hitting the campaign trail, John McCain was a key architect of the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform bill that linked border security with a temporary worker program and would have provided millions of undocumented workers a path to citizenship. After the right wing of his party howled in protest, McCain reversed course and abandoned the comprehensive approach in favor of hard-line measures to require border-state governors to certify that their borders are secure before any other changes are considered. His own reason for switching sides: he "got the message." [AP, 11/3/07]
"John McCain may be worried about the right wing of his party, but his real problem is the damage to his credibility after driving the Straight Talk Express through so many Double Talk Detours," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda. "Whether he is rejecting the immigration reform bill he championed or abandoning his signature campaign finance reform laws, John McCain's do-anything-to-win campaign strategy includes everything except sticking to his principles."
McCain Straddling the (Border) Fence on Immigration Reform
In 2005 McCain Called For Documenting Illegal Immigrants And Providing Them A Path To Citizenship. McCain, through his Kennedy-McCain immigration reforms, "want(s) to allow undocumented workers who participate in a guest worker program to be able to stay in America and apply for permanent residency or citizenship after paying fines and satisfying other requirements." [Los Angeles Times, 11/29/05]
In an Effort to Please Conservatives, McCain Turned His Back on Immigration Reform. McCain said he would reconsider his position on immigration. "McCain's hesitancy about joining (Sen.) Kennedy on the same issue they worked together on in the previous Congress," The Boston Globe reported, "speaks to an emerging dynamic in the Republican presidential race. McCain has encountered anger from hard-line immigration foes on the campaign trail, particularly over an aspect in last year's bill that would have allowed most undocumented immigrants to work toward citizenship." [Boston Globe, 3/22/07; New York Times, 3/20/07]
But Then Parachuted In at the Last Minute to Take Credit, and Lash Out at a Republican Colleague. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) reportedly criticized McCain during the immigration compromise announcement, saying, "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain responded by accusing Cornyn of "making a 'chickens-t' argument to try to sink the delicate immigration package" and shouting, "(Expletive) you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." [Washingtonpost.com, 5/18/07; Roll Call, 5/21/07]
Now McCain Backs Criminalization. McCain backed criminalization to save his struggling Presidential campaign. According to the AP, "Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Thursday backed a scaled-down proposal that imposes strict rules to end illegal immigration but doesn't include a path to citizenship...Among other things, the bill makes being in the country illegally a criminal misdemeanor and toughens penalties for re-entering after being deported." [AP, 8/2/07]
