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SAN DIEGO -- President Obama recently reignited the immigration debate when he told reporters that congressional leaders of both parties were ready to "actively get something done and not put it off until a year, two years, three years, five years from now, but to start working on this thing right now." In the months ahead, keep an eye on two things: the calendar and the issue of guest workers. The calendar: "Right now" might not be soon enough. The conventional wisdom is that the longer Obama waits, the harder it will be to pass any immigration reform legislation. One...

Pair Try to Force Naming of More Commissioners. BY DAN EGGEN Seven years after their landmark campaign finance legislation became law, Sens. John McCain and Russell Feingold are reuniting under the banner of spending reform at a time when restrictions have come under fire both in the courts and at the embattled Federal Election Commission. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Feingold (D-Wis.) announced this week that they were blocking the appointment of Democratic union lawyer John Sullivan to the FEC until President Obama agrees to fill two other open panel seats. The two senators, who co-sponsored legislation in 2002 that banned "soft...

HOST: Health care. MCCAIN: Needs reform. HOST: That’s two words. [weird laugh] Iraq. MCCAIN: Success. HOST: Arizona. MCCAIN: The best. HOST: US-Mexico Border. McCain: Cartels. HOST: GOP. MCCAIN: Transition. HOST: Sheriff Joe Arpaio:MCCAIN: Umm…

PHOENIX - The debate over health care reform promises an interesting five weeks in Congress before the August recess, according to Sen. John McCain. The Arizona Republican spoke out against Democrats' plans for reform during a speech Wednesday at Phoenix Children's Hospital. "Look at other countries that have government-run health care systems and there is health rationing," McCain said. "That is just a fact. I don't think the United States of America is ready to go down that slippery slope that will end up in rationing of health care." McCain said the proposals would be too expensive and would give...

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People like John McCain and others who have been part of the self-absorbed, navel-gazing and corrupt Washington environment for a quarter century no doubt resent someone not "of them." But it is indeed odd when Sarah Palin, a bright, shining light for conservatives remains the prime target of the existing machine, while Mark Sanford and other hypocritical liars are serenaded as getting a raw deal by the very public daughter of a defacto leader of the party.

Meghan McCain—whom some have called the new face of the GOP—likes to call herself a “progressive Republican.” Her Twitter page is full of updates about her devotion to gay marriage: “Marriage equality will not fall to the wayside! I have faith one day there will be equality for everyone living in this country!” That’s fine, I don’t care whether or not she supports “marriage equality.” But as someone her age, I know that gay marriage is one of the causes that young people must embrace in order to gain admission to the liberal in-crowd—and I suspect that’s why she’s doing...

The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign. At issue is a question that was never resolved following McCain’s loss in November: Who in the McCain campaign was secretly trashing Sarah Palin to the press?

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Meghan McCain hasn't even released her first book, but she's already planning the movie version. "I want Hilary Duff to play me. I think she's really hot - hotter than me - but I'd still want her to play me," Sen. John McCain's daughter confided to us at the Trevor Project's summer gala on Monday night at Capitale. But the young Republican isn't dead set on Duff. "Really, I'd take anyone who's blond," she joked, adding that one actor in particular would certainly be welcome to join the cast. "Bradley Cooper is so hot," McCain swooned. "If he can be...

(snip) But I asked one of the senior McCain campaign officials who worked closest with Palin what he thought of the article, by e-mail last night and then this morning over the phone. He e-mailed back immediately, calling the article "absolutely fascinating" and "completely riveting." "While the Palin camp is surely marshaling the torches and pitchforks and baying for blood by now, my hope is that somehow — against the odds -- Palin is able to draw some sort of lesson out of all of this that helps her find a way to exist peacefully in the public space. It...

The campaign finance dream team of Sens. Russ Feingold and John McCain is reuniting to block President Barack Obama’s first appointment to the Federal Election Commission and to push him to shake up the embattled agency. In a surprising move that invokes memories of a bitter skirmish during Obama’s annihilation of McCain in last year’s presidential election, Feingold (D-Wis.) and McCain (R-Ariz.) have placed a hold on the FEC nomination of Democratic labor lawyer John Sullivan, POLITICO confirmed Tuesday. Their hold could reverberate in Congress, the White House, the 2010 midterm elections and beyond. In a statement issued in response...

My Friend, As I travel around Arizona, I am always humbled by the dedicated men and women I meet in my home state. I am so honored to serve as one of Arizona's Senators and I want you to know that together, we have accomplished a great deal. We are taking positive steps toward economic reform and we are preparing for a vigorous debate on healthcare in the Senate. But there is still more to accomplish on issues like healthcare reform, national security and earmark reform and that is why I want to continue my service to our country as...

HOUSTON - The man who lost last year’s presidential election is once again battling his political rival. Senator john McCain of Arizona brought the fight for health care reform to Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on Tuesday. Along with republican senators john Cornyn of Texas and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, McCain told a group of doctors and nurses, government run health care is not the answer. He predicted the month of July will be "a great debate" between democrats and republicans in Washington. Congress goes back into session next week and McCain expects the Obama administration to start a hard...

The Court has held that Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205) will be reargued on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m. The Court has issued the following written order: “The parties should address the following question: ‘For the disposition of this case, should the Court overrule either or both Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the part of McConnell v. FEC which addresses the facial validity of Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002?’

Organized labor is dictating a large portion of the Obama administration's work, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) alleged Monday. "The unions are running a lot of this administration," McCain said during an appearance on the Mike Broomhead show on local radio station KFYI. "Look what just happened with Chrysler and General Motors," McCain added.

Sex scandals like Governor Sanford’s and John Ensign’s are private matters that don’t affect public policy and shoot down rising political stars. It’s time to end hypocrisy in America.When I first heard about Governor Sanford’s sex scandal, I was flooded with disappointment for many reasons. Particularly since his admission of an extramarital affair came so closely after Nevada Senator Ensign made a similar confession. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I am younger, or that just have a more open-minded view of politicians and sex, but it’s of very little concern to me who elected officials sleep with....

Alaska's lipstick-wearing pit-bull is a "Little Shop of Horrors." That's how one longtime friend and campaign trail companion of John McCain, the vanquished 2008 GOP presidential nominee, described veep nominee Sarah Palin. In an expansive story in the August edition of Vanity Fair, a slew of senior members of McCain's campaign team told reporter Todd S. Purdum that they suffer a kind of survivor's guilt following the 2008 presidential election.

John McCain is back — and he's in a fighting mood! The Arizona senator looked even younger and fitter than during his recent presidential campaign when I caught him last week on C-SPAN. I admire people who show character in defeat. A prominent 19th-Century pundit once said "the greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart." For sure, John McCain has not lost heart at all. Though McCain was defeated last November, I believe he did a good job with his campaign under extremely difficult circumstances. In September, the McCain-Palin ticket was narrowly ahead in...

GREGORY: ...the potential of revisiting a second stimulus come the fall. Do you think that’s appropriate? GRAHAM: Yes, I think we should revisit it and make sure that it’s focused on jobs, not adding to the debt. If you had another vote in the Senate or the House, I think it would be redone, it would be more focused on job creation, because it clearly has not helped jobs, has added to the debt, and I think it just missed its mark. So I’d love to revisit it.(snip) GRAHAM: I can be a leader on an issue, quite frankly. I...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S Car.) and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) say they are proud of the way President Obama has handled the situation in Iran so far.

In a wide-ranging midday press conference, President Obama took on Republican critics of his stance on Iran, directly targeting former rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and saying, "I am the president of the United States." Obama, who has been accused by McCain and other Republicans of being too timid throughout the unrest following Iran's presidential elections, has gradually taken a firmer stance in the days following the election. . . . . . "The Iranian people can speak for themselves," Obama said in the James S. Brady Briefing Room. "That is precisely what has happened these last few days. In...

WASHINGTON — President Obama told congressional lawmakers Thursday that he would push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system by early next year. But during the White House meeting, a new political obstacle came into view: how to regulate the influx of foreign workers. The issue was raised by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a principal architect of past attempts to rewrite immigration laws. McCain challenged Obama and other Democrats to stand up to labor unions that are pushing a plan business groups fear could be overly restrictive in admitting future immigrant workers. "I would expect the president of the...

GOP candidate promotes working with Europe on climate change, but only wants to 'encourage' involvement of 'rest of the world.' BY DAN GAINOR Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain is using the idea of global togetherness to promote “a cap-and-trade system” to battle climate change. He said “Americans and Europeans need to get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand over a much-diminished world to our grandchildren.” According to the Arizona senator, whose opinion column appeared in the March 19 Financial Times, the United States needs to work with Europe to create...

President Obama made a vigorous effort after the election to court Sen. John McCain, hoping his campaign rival would become a Senate advocate for his ambitious agenda. Instead, McCain (R-Ariz.) has emerged as one of the chief gadflies leading Republican opposition to Obama’s biggest legislative initiatives. Nevertheless, Obama and other Democrats still cling to the hope that McCain can be persuaded to help advance their priorities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2009 Contact: Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694 Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263 Historic White House Meeting on Immigration a Complete Success Roadmap to Immigration Reform makes a strong and positive beginning Salem, Ore--Today members of Congress from both houses and from both sides of the aisle met at the White House for an historic working session on Immigration Reform. The White House meeting, which was postponed from last week, was rescheduled for today after immigration reform proponents generated over 200,000 faxes, 30,000 phone calls, and 3,300 personal notes calling on the President to...

President Obama moved the goalposts on getting immigration reform accomplished, saying Thursday that he wants a bill he can sign either this year or early next year. Shortly after the president adjourned a meeting with a bipartisan group of members from both chambers, a number of senators and congressmen from both sides of the aisle demonstrated why next year might be aiming too high. The White House has said that the president would like to see something this year, but a number of skeptics have questioned whether Congress can or will take any floor action in 2009. Obama said he...

(snip) I want to especially commend John McCain, who's with me today, because along with folks like Lindsey Graham, he has already paid a significant political cost for doing the right thing. I stand with him, I stand with Nydia Velázquez and others who have taken leadership on this issue. (snip)

(snip) And as the White House holds a bipartisan summit on immigration Thursday, Republicans are warning that Obama needs to offer a specific plan or risk seeing the issue die this Congress. “He needs to really lead on that,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who was a member of a bipartisan group that unsuccessfully pushed an immigration bill in 2007. “I think it’s very, very important that he give a clear signal on where he is on an issue with that level of specificity.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another supporter of the 2007 bill, said President George W. Bush ran...

The hawkish trio of Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised President Barack Obama on Thursday for condemning the corruption and violence surrounding the recent election in Iran. “I’m very proud of my president for what he said Tuesday,” Graham declared during a press conference. “It was the right thing to say.” “I appreciate it,” McCain added.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will meet Thursday with a bipartisan, politically diverse group of lawmakers to begin discussing a rewrite of U.S. immigration laws. But the effort faces stiff headwinds: a Washington agenda already packed with other priorities; a recession making Americans nervous about the job market; and the sidelining of the most vocal champions of an immigration overhaul. "Greater presidential leadership is going to be needed," said Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration policy at the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino advocacy group. "It's an absolute necessity." The White House meeting will bring together lawmakers who...

With unusual ubiquity for a losing presidential candidate, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain has been popping up all over the media these days. So it was probably inevitable that he'd get the same question asked of virtually every breathing Republican in these, the Grand Old Party's Days of Disarray: Will you be running for president in 2012? First of all, McCain's got to win Senate reelection next year. Second, the party's conservatives still don't like him, although as long as he lost in November, they've pretty much shut up about it for now. Arizona Republican Senator John McCain Third, he'd...

Early clubhouse leader for worst political advice of the year . . . Jonathan Capehart has suggested that Republicans would be well-advised to skip a generation and wait for the Meghan McCains of the world to assume the GOP’s mantle of leadership. The WaPo editorial writer made his smirk-worthy suggestion on MSNBC this afternoon while chewing over Mark Sanford’s stunning announcement. The panel had literally and figuratively run down the list of Republican presidential hopefuls and found virtually all of them wanting. Capehart’s brainstorm came in response to a leading question from host Tamron Hall, who touted the younger McCain’s...

SNIPPET: "Police were nearby and took one suspect into custody while another was arrested after a getaway car was followed to a nearby trailer park."

Sen. John McCain started Father's Day on "Fox News Sunday," but he said he'll spend the rest of the day on the phone, chatting with his seven kids. The Arizona Republican said fathers need to give their kids "support, understanding -- and sometimes that support has to be a little tough love." He said that he often felt pressured to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both Navy men, and said that parents should give their children choices. "I hope that I'm a good father," McCain said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — You can't call John McCain a sore loser. Seven months after Barack Obama defeated him in the U.S. presidential election, the Republican senator from Arizona said Sunday he thinks his former Senate colleague is making things happen in the White House. "I think he's done well," McCain said on the CBS program "Face the Nation." "He has achieved literally every one of his legislative accomplishments," McCain noted in reference to the economic stimulus package and other measures passed by Congress in recent months. However, McCain said, the same partisan divisions remain in Congress despite Obama's campaign pledges...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain says the U.S. should board a North Korean ship it is tracking if hard evidence shows it is carrying missiles or other cargo in violation of U.N. resolutions. McCain says that such cargo would contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to nations that pose a direct threat to the United States.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain says his opponent in last year's presidential campaign, Barack Obama, has "done well" in his first five months in the White House. The Arizona Republican says that using a legislative scorecard to judge the presidency so far, Obama has achieved all his legislative goals.

The Daily Beast's Meghan McCain on being the newest poster girl for a celebrity photo campaign to overturn California's ban on gay marriage—and why more Republicans should follow her lead. I was so honored to be asked to pose for the NOH8 campaign. I am a proud member of the Republican Party and a proud supporter of marriage equality. I especially love the incorporation of the little elephant with his tusks duct-taped in the photograph. Marriage equality is not just a Democrat or Republican issue, it is a human one.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of President Barack Obama's top priorities -- healthcare reform and reducing global warming -- are in disarray on Capitol Hill, with no sign of bipartisan consensus, Senator John McCain said on Friday. The Arizona Republican, who was defeated by Obama for the presidency last November, said in an interview with Reuters that climate change legislation "is just dead in the water. It's not got momentum." Efforts to overhaul America's costly healthcare system need to begin anew after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said a draft bill would cost $1 trillion and insure only 16 million of...

At a sparsely attended campaign event in Beaufort on Friday, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham promised he would work to solve the nation's immigration problems if reelected and pooh-poohed speculation that Arizona Sen. John McCain would tap him as a presidential running mate. About 30 people showed up to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park to meet the senator during a Lowcountry boil his campaign sponsored. Mike Passanite, owner of Boundary Street Pizzaria, catered the event and said he was told to expect about 125. Norma Stewart of Sun City Hilton Head said rain in southern Beaufort County probably kept many...

My Friends, Health care is a problem of growing importance across America. From kitchen tables, to state governments, to our government here in Washington, the growing cost of health care and the shortcomings of the current system are issues of extreme concern. With polls showing that a majority of Americans now support Congress enacting a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system, it is clear that we must begin working towards a bi-partisan solution to address the need for reform. In the coming weeks, Congress will begin the hard work of debating health care legislation that will provide all...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized President Barack Obama Wednesday for failing to take a strong leadership role in voicing opposition to the election results in Iran. “I do not believe that the president is taking the leadership that is incumbent upon an American president, which we have throughout modern history, and that is to advocate for human rights and freedom, and free elections are one of those fundamentals,” McCain said during an interview on CNN. McCain said the president “obviously doesn’t agree” that Iranians have the right to protest the election results as a “fundamental principle.” “We are seeking, as...

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After twice postponing a highly anticipated meeting between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders on immigration reform, the White House is under increasing pressure to get legislation done this year. Winning congressional approval of an immigration measure by December is a steep climb, with the economy, health care and energy higher on the president’s agenda. So far, Obama has promised only to begin the discussion at the summit set for next week. But if the president does not move quickly, he will suffer the same fate as his predecessor, President George W. Bush, who left office acknowledging that failure to...

McCain explicitly included the Fifth Amendment in his legislation because it addresses his target, coercive interrogation. As we’ve seen, in Dickerson, the Supreme Court held that Miranda was now considered part of the Fifth Amendment’s core. In the al-Owhali case, Judge Sand ruled that Miranda imposes daunting burdens on American agents overseas — burdens far more challenging than the rote reading of an advice-of-rights card that typically happens in domestic policing. With the Supreme Court, beginning in 2004, imposing more and more criminal-justice procedure on the battlefield, the McCain Amendment would almost certainly be used by courts or a Democratic...

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. John McCain officially got the keys to his 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid on Tuesday, and promptly took it for a spin around the Russell Senate office building in Washington — but not before accidentially tripping the car alarm. Before jumping in, McCain was overheard remarking that his new ride features a voice-activated navigation system and Sirius satellite radio. Riding shotgun was McCain's buddy Lindsey Graham, who joked as he got into the passenger seat: "I hope I live to tell about this."

Sen. John McCain tells the Washington Times he is sure the Iranian elections were rigged. McCain said we should "condemn" the Iranians for that.