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Arizona Sen. John McCain has rejected Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta's invitation to come to the southern Luzerne County city and discuss illegal immigration. "Senator McCain truly appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents," a scheduling official, Jo Black, in the presumptive Republican nominee's presidential campaign wrote in a letter. Barletta's congressional campaign released the letter today. "Unfortunately, I must pass along his regrets as I do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar." Black said McCain has "tremendous demands on his time" and because of "the large volume of similar requests, events such as...

"I am a proud conservative liberal Republican." http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4363279

WARNING TO CONSERVATIVES!!! When the AP quotes Open Borders moll Tamar Jacoby, Arlen Specter, RINO/Bushie/McCainite Charlie Black as saying McCain is "looking strong" or good on immigration" and no conservatives or anti-Invasion advocates or experts are quoted in the [following] story, you know the fix is in! McCain is on a major media effort to try to make conservatives like him enough to vote for him and he knows he's in deep trouble. So he's going to try to pull the wool over our eyes by saying he's going to get tough on the Border--if elected. What he WON'T discuss...

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez will endorse John McCain on Friday, The Associated Press has learned, a move likely to give the Republican presidential candidate a crucial boost with the state's Cuban-Americans just days before the primary. The decision is a blow to Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor in a close fight with McCain for support of voters in the Cuban-American community _ and to keep his candidacy alive. Two Republican officials disclosed the upcoming endorsement on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the announcement. As recently as Thursday night, Martinez indicated he would remain neutral in the...

McCain Slams Swiftboat Vets Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 1:19:32 pm PST Has anyone ever really shown that the allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans against John F. Kerry were false? If someone has refuted the charges conclusively, I’ve never seen it—which makes John McCain’s continuing antipathy toward the Swiftboaters inexplicable: McCain Scrambles to Control Backers. Speaking to reporters aboard his campaign tour bus late Tuesday, McCain acknowledged that conservative independent groups pursuing a similar line to Cunningham’s could be impossible to control. “I think you have to worry about that, particularly the 527s,� McCain said, referring to the...

Senator John McCain’s ascendancy in the Republican presidential race has been truly remarkable. Yet, it’s no groundswell. To this point, about two out of every three primary and caucus participants have voted against him. If the Democrats and independents some states permit to crash the Grand Old Party were factored out, his standing in the Republican base would be even less impressive. Still, you have to hand it to his admirers: They have parlayed his thin support into an aura of inevitability. The glow could intensify this week, when McCain is likely, finally, to rack up some more impressive numbers...

Arizona senator says GOP rhetoric 'not helpful' WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he did not believe Democratic candidate John Kerry, a friend and Senate colleague, was weak on defense or would compromise national security if elected president. “This kind of rhetoric, I think, is not helpful in educating and helping the American people make a choice,” McCain said on “The Early Show” on CBS. “You know, it’s the most bitter and partisan campaign that I’ve ever observed. I think it’s because both parties are going to their bases rather than going to the middle. I regret it.”...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush pledged Sunday to assist Sen. John McCain's campaign for the presidency assuming he wins the Republican Party nomination -- but acknowledged that the Arizona senator has "got some convincing to do" among the party's conservatives. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday" at his retreat at Camp David, Md., Bush was careful to note that two Republicans are still competing for the nomination, and he did not express a preference. But Bush made clear that he was willing to set aside the tensions he has had with McCain in the past, and he praised the front-runner...

Ted Nugent: McCain has two battles he must win Sunday, February 17, 2008 Now that Mitt Romney has thrown in the towel and endorsed him, the Republican nominee for president will almost certainly be Sen. John McCain. Attempting residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is surely tough enough without turning your friends into enemies. There are plenty of enemies on the other side who wear different political stripes altogether. McCain faces a distrustful, dissatisfied, frustrated, and in some cases, downright angry conservative base. Conservatives are not happy with McCain. He has not always carried the conservative torch on immigration, taxes, First...

McCain a 'True Conservative,' Bush Says Feb 10 09:36 AM US/Eastern WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain is a "true conservative," President Bush says, although the presumptive Republican presidential nominee may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own. McCain "is very strong on national defense," Bush said in an interview taped for airing on "Fox News Sunday." "He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned." But when asked about criticism of McCain by conservative...

Bush Signals Support for McCain By Peter Baker President Bush plans to give an implicit endorsement of onetime rival John McCain's conservative bona fides tomorrow as the Arizona senator seeks to consolidate the party behind his candidacy. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in the morning, Bush plans to say that the nominee of the party will be a strong conservative, according to excerpts released by the White House tonight.

When searching for answers as to how we got here in America - here being a steadily accelerating march into Democratic Socialism - there is plenty of blame to go around. Personally, I don’t see an innocent individual in the lot. Those who consider themselves to be the most politically astute people in America, conservatives, have once again been out-foxed by those they call ignorant. Forest Gump’s momma was right; stupid is as stupid does! Steeped in worthy principles, yes. Politically astute? You must be kidding… America has exactly the mess of a government it deserves because it always has...

Two years ago, Republicans fought over immigration and hemorrhaged Hispanic voters. Now they are poised to nominate the one man who can rebuild the Hispanic voter coalition that pushed President Bush twice to victory, the architects of that coalition say. "I think the only candidate that Republicans have running for president who could retain those votes is in fact Senator McCain," said the Rev. Luis Cortes Jr., president of Esperanza USA, founder of the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and a key player in helping Mr. Bush connect with Hispanic voters during his two runs for office. Democrats have traditionally enjoyed...

WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain faces a dilemma on immigration as he works to persuade conservatives he's tough enough on the issue without erasing his historic appeal to Hispanic voters. Once a crusader for offering the nation's roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants a way to get legal status, McCain now says his first priority is fortifying U.S. borders. The metamorphosis reflects McCain's intensifying effort to consolidate his support among conservatives, who deride the Arizona senator's past proposals on immigration as offering amnesty to lawbreakers, and bitterly resent his work with Democrats, including Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, on the issue....

<p>For the second time in as many days, Sen. John McCain was forced to rebuke members of his own party for over-the-top attacks on Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.</p>

John McCain couldn't handle the outstanding rebel-rousing introduction by Cincinnati conservative talk show host, Bill Cunningham the other day--a man the McCain Campaign had hired to introduce the Senator. Instead, Wussie McCain immediately "apologized" profusely to Obama for Cunningham's using Obama's full name over and over during the intro. This shows how "p.c." and how "wussie" John McCain is when it comes to worrying about how the left is going to perceive him. Instead of concentrating on gaining base support which he sorely needs and can't win without, he's playing to the left and saying to conservatives, "S**w you! I...

WASHINGTON – Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, misunderstood the results of a vote on an amendment to the "comprehensive immigration reform" bill being debated in the upper house today. He also is apparently unfamiliar with efforts to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters operating on the public airwaves. But it was nationally syndicated radio talk-show host Sean Hannity's persistent grilling about the senator's intentions on key cloture votes leading to a showdown on what is characterized as an "amnesty" bill that caused Voinovich to melt down before millions of listeners today. The normally low-profile Republican hung up on the No. 2...

Senate will reconvene at 2:30pm to argue cloture. CSPAN indicates that Sen. Reid will use a "little known procedure known as the 'clay pidgeon rule'" to limit the number of amendments to as few as one.

Just 22% Favor Stalled Immigration Bill Monday, June 25, 2007 As the Senate prepares to resume debate the “comprehensive” immigration reform bill, the legislation continues to face broad public opposition. In fact, despite a massive White House effort, public opinion has barely moved since the public uproar stalled the bill just over two weeks ago. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 22% of American voters currently favor the legislation. That’s down a point from 23% a couple of weeks ago and down from 26% when the debate in the Senate began. Fifty percent (50%) oppose the...

White House spokesman Tony Snow ran into a little more than he perhaps was expecting when he appeared on the Laura Ingraham show, as she relentlessly asked the American public's No. 1 question: What is the U.S. government doing to stop the invasion from Mexico? "Sixty-nine percent of Americans, 85 percent of the GOP, 55 percent of the Democrats want the border enforced," said Ingraham. "Does that affect you guys, or do you guys just blow it off?" Snow repeated, several times, the Bush administration's talking points on the issue – how the failed comprehensive immigration reform bill, which fell...

President Bush is building his legacy, adding another unfortunate line of hollow bravado to his rhetorical repertoire. He has added "I'll see you at the bill signing," referring to his own ill-considered push for comprehensive immigration reform. Isn't there anyone in this administration who has the guts to say,"Give it a rest, Mr. Predident"? Sen. Jeff Sessions came close when he said, "He needs to back off." This president desperately needs to be reminded that he is the president of all Americans and not just of corporate interests and socio-ethnocentric special interest groups. This bill would be disastrous public policy...

A pernicious development is taking place in the backrooms of our Congress. FSM Contributing Editor Sher Zieve poses a startling question as to whether or not there is collusion between Bush and various representatives to pull off an end run around Americans on the immigration issue.  Part II: Senate Continues to Bypass We-The-People   By Sher Zieve   Still unconcerned with supporting the will of the American people, our globalist US Senators are again meeting behind closed doors in order to twist arms for the pro-illegals’ Amnesty Bill. Members of Congress and the President of the United States have – apparently -...

It doesn't take an advanced degree in punditry to see that McCain is making a heck of a gamble. He's building his presidential campaign around two unpopular stances on two divisive issues -- Iraq and immigration. But the new life being breathed into the senator's comprehensive immigration reform bill today appears to be matched by his renewed confidence that he's placed a smart bet. Asked by reporters if the weight of the bill's controversies could drown his presidential ambitions, McCain emphatically disagreed. "I think there's a long-term political benefit to getting something done," he said. The senator even hinted that...

This from the same “statesman� who squealed at the start of this miserable betrayal, “This is what my ninth grade teacher told me government is all about and I finally got to experience it.� Twelve million people legalized, border crossings reduced by a paltry 25%, and this tool’s acting like he just won Model UN. And now, at last, rock bottom: TODAY CO-HOST MEREDITH VIEIRA: When you went home recently you were at a GOP meeting and you got booed over immigration. There are a lot of people in a lot of states — conservatives — who think this bill...

Can you believe this guy?

Now, he's really gone too far. Republican Party Chairman and Florida U.S. Senator Mel Martinez needs to get out of politics before he single-handedly (well, actually with the help of President George W. Bush and other Senators like Jon Kyl) destroys the Republican Party forever. Today's Wall Street Journal Washington Wire reports that--despite the GOP's jilted lover stalking of the Hispanic vote (including such tactics as the Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill)--more Hispanics than ever identify themselves as Democrats rather than Republicans. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll finds that they identify 51% to 21% as Democrats to Republicans. But, instead...

Journalists spent months explaining how John McCain’s stalwart support of the Iraq War would sink him in the Republican presidential primaries — and it didn’t. Then, they swooned over Senator McCain’s performance in a New Hampshire debate where he vigorously defended the Senate immigration bill — and his numbers have been falling ever since. The journalistic interpretations of McCain always lack the crucial context of how living, breathing Republicans — you know, those people you can’t find in many newsrooms — might be reacting to him. And sometimes it seems that the McCain campaign lacks that context as well. In...

You can't say I didn't warn you. The immigration bill is coming back, probably as early as next week. That's what Senators Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) agreed to today, leaving conservatives on Capitol Hill disappointed and alarmed. A conservative Senate GOP aide told me McConnell caved under pressure from the White House and Democrats. "They are going to roll over conservatives. They scheduled debate time and a vote for next week knowing full well that Jeff Sessions would be out of town." Sessions, a vocal opponent, will be in Alabama for a fundraiser with President Bush next...

A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a...

This morning on Fox and Friends there was made mention that much stricter fines are in the immigration reform bill. While this is true many folks may not know about a few words that follow the language about the tougher fines. Those words make a travesty of any "fines" as they can be waved and the employer could walk away owing nothing in penalties. Here are the words I've got a problem with... (D) The Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalties imposed upon employers, based upon factors including, but not limited to, the employer's hiring volume, compliance history,...

Senators Work to Revive Immigration Bill By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — Key Republican and Democratic senators are reaching for a deal to resurrect their stalled immigration compromise by requiring that some $4 billion be spent on border security and workplace enforcement. The mandatory security funding is part of a plan to attract more Republican support for the measure, which grants legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants. In private meetings Wednesday, the bipartisan group that crafted the delicate compromise was hammering out a plan to allow votes on a limited set of Republican- and Democratic-sought changes...

Yesterday, a GOP aide, who is one of my sources in the Senate, gave me the rundown on what's happening with the Senate immigration bill (this is the same person who I talked to last week about the bill). First off, it does look like the Senate immigration bill is coming back. The conventional wisdom seems to be that it's going to be brought up right before the July 4th break, so that the Senate Republican leadership can try to use that as leverage to get votes (in other words, "vote for the bill or we'll have to waste your...

Key Republican and Democratic senators, working to attract more support for President Bush's stalled immigration bill, huddled Wednesday with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to discuss tougher border security and workplace enforcement. At a Capitol Hill meeting, the bipartisan group continued talks aimed at cobbling together enough backing from skeptical Republicans to quickly revive the measure that would grant legal status to as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants. A day after Bush fielded criticism from Republicans whose opposition derailed the bill last week, the White House said it would be open to changes to the delicate bipartisan deal. Architects...

<p>We respectfully ask that your Administration enforce the border security laws that have already been authorized by Congress regardless of whether the Senate passes the immigration reform bill. The bill assumes that several critical border security benchmarks can be achieved within 18 months. These security triggers are already authorized under current law and can be completed without the immigration bill. We believe these enforcement measures are vital and should not wait until Congress passes additional immigration reforms.</p>

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Arizona Senator John McCain dismissed poll numbers that put him behind Giuliani and Thompson in the bid for the Republican presidential nomination. McCain hosted a small fundraising breakfast at San Francisco Campton Place this morning. The Republican has spent the last several days shaking hands from Sonoma and Vacaville to Atherton and San Francisco. Various polls show him running second and third. He is chasing Republican former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani who was speaking to $1,000-a-head crowd in Central Valley on Sunday. Former Tennessee Senator-turned-actor Fred Thompson, who has yet to declare, spent time querying...

Does Lindsey Graham truly believe that his highest calling as a senator is to work with the likes of Ted Kennedy? Apparently so, judging by the South Carolinian's statement on this morning's "Today." Meredith Vieira interviewed Graham, a staunch supporter of the president's immigration plan, during the show's first half-hour. TODAY CO-HOST MEREDITH VIEIRA: When you went home recently you were at a GOP meeting and you got booed over immigration. There are a lot of people in a lot of states -- conservatives -- who think this bill is bad and they see this as a litmus test. SEN....

I just got this alert: Friends, Pres. Bush's meeting with Republican Senators at noon appears to be providing just the extra push that pro-amnesty leaders have wanted. The Senate's top two Republican leaders -- McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lott (R-Miss.) -- are using this opportunity to pull 15 Republicans (of the 38 who voted against amnesty last week) back to Pres. Bush's side. McConnell and Lott hope to get those 15 to sign off on a list of amendments they want brought up for a vote. They hope to present that list to Democratic leader Sen. Reid (D-Nev.) by tonight!To slow...

One of the conservative activist groups instrumental in at least temporarily derailing a Senate bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens living in the U.S. warns the fight against the measure is far from over. The executive director of Eagle Forum says the recent downfall of the bill can be attributed in part to the strong activism of grassroots Americans.

Bracing for a fundraising report at the end of the month that is unlikely to alleviate the headaches that have plagued his campaign, Arizona Sen. John McCain and his top advisers have fashioned a survival plan they hope will steady his GOP nomination run.

True to his reputation as a maverick, Sen. John McCain is obviously fed up with the jabs he's taking from conservatives on the immigration issue. And he's hitting back – hard. It's about time. Since the beginning of this debate, McCain has been both correct and courageous. But now he has made it clear that he's not going to be anyone's punching bag. McCain is correct about the need for comprehensive immigration reform as opposed to what's behind door No. 2: the “faith-based” enforcement-only approach of building walls, hoping illegal immigrants self-deport and calling it a day. Congress did something...

Despite facing intense opposition from conservatives in his own party, presidential candidate John McCain vowed today to fight to resurrect legislation to improve border security and grant legal status to 12 million illegal immigrants. In a campaign appearance in Sacramento, McCain said he is pushing for compromises on amendments to a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the hope that Congress can pass the measure by the July 4 recess. "We can't allow the status quo to prevail," McCain said. "Twelve millon people marching around America illegally. Broken borders. No viable temporary worker program for our agricultural workers here. Employers being...

WASHINGTON — While the White House is blaming the Democratic leadership for the collapse of the immigration bill, Senator McCain is directing his ire at members of his own party. The Arizona senator, asked yesterday to explain the bill's failure last week, cited the work of "the more conservative, anti-immigrant, anti-legislation group" of lawmakers who defeated the proposal in Congress. "I think the Senate works in a way where relatively small numbers can block legislation, but I also think the more conservative, anti-immigrant, anti-legislation group were very well backed up by a very vocal group of people who were supporting...

The amendment infuriated Graham, a South Carolina Republican with close ties to another presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Pacing the Senate floor and waving Obama's amendment, Graham loudly accused Obama of undermining a delicate agreement whose advocates have shown political courage. Issues that require bipartisanship often fail, Graham said, "because some people, when it comes to the tough decisions, back away." Obama's amendment, he said, would destroy the bill's prospects and bring special woe to Republicans—such as himself—who have endured conservatives' searing criticism for backing it. It would undercut "everybody over here who's walked the plank and told our...

Hundreds of Arizona Republicans, including 26 state lawmakers and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, have signed a letter asking Senator Jon Kyl to abandon his federal immigration reform bill. Mesa Senator Karen Johnson hand-delivered the letter to Kyl's Camelback Road office. "I'm concerned and I'm disappointed," Johnson said. "I would hope he would open up his heart and his mind to what his constituents would really like to have him be doing." Johnson said we shouldn't be making new immigration laws, when we don't enforce the ones we have. Johnson disputes reports that protest calls to the senator are declining. "People are...

Dear President Bush: I could not have imagined writing a president (from my party) the following back in my ninth-grade civics class. Yet, write I must. Sir, you should know that there are dozens of millions of "honest" Americans who share my convictions and are waiting for the ballot box to punish supporters of amnesty. I am offended and outraged that you, sir, saw fit in your speech May 29 to brand us as not "[wanting] to do what's right for America," because we, along with an increasing number of the elected oppose the comprehensive immigration reform bill. As has...

George Bush’s political strategists have long promoted amnesty for illegal aliens as a device for increasing the Republican vote among Hispanics. They also warn that denying rights to illegal aliens will hurt the GOP. A Hispanic backlash in California after Proposition 187 (the 1994 voter initiative that denied illegal aliens many publicly funded services) turned the state from red to blue, they claim; a similar rout awaits the party if it does not embrace liberal immigration policies. There is scant evidence for either of these ideas. The 1986 amnesty signed by President Reagan did not trigger a Latino surge into...

MIAMI — GOP presidential contender John McCain on Monday challenged his campaign rivals in the party to either get behind the pending Senate immigration bill or come up with an alternative. The Arizona senator also accused fellow Republican candidates of "pandering for votes" by contesting the proposal. Although he didn't mention names, the charge was seen as a jab at his chief rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "There is one premise most of us agree on: The status quo is unacceptable," said McCain, speaking before the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce...

If President Bush were as intent on cracking down on illegal immigration as he is on insulting conservatives, we’d have a secure border by now. He attacked conservatives in a speech to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., for not rubber-stamping his secretly negotiated agreement on legislation that would make the most dramatic change to immigration law in the last 40 years. The president’s tone was aggressive, disrespectful, and dismissive of conservative assertions that his deal amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens. True conservatives, who believe in the rule of law, must tell our nation’s chief law-enforcement...

President Bush's immigration reform package has badly damaged his ratings on the issue from his core supporters, with his approval rating for handling immigration plummeting among Republicans and conservatives. Fewer than half of Republicans, 45 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, now approve of how Bush is handling immigration, down from 61 percent in April — that's a 16-point drop in six weeks. Just 35 percent of conservatives approve, down from 48 percent. This marks one of the few times in his presidency Bush has received less than 50 percent approval from members of his own party on any...

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 There’s a simple reason the immigration bill being debated by the U.S. Senate is unpopular with voters—the general public doesn’t believe it will reduce illegal immigration. And, in the minds of most voters, that’s what immigration reform is all about. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 16% of American voters believe illegal immigration will decline if the Senate bill is passed. Seventy-four percent (74%) disagree. That figure includes 41% who believe the Senate bill will actually lead to an increase in illegal immigration. If voters had a chance to improve the legislation,...