MAC THE MAV AND TINO, TOO

Townhall.com ^ | 25 Novemner 2008 | Andrew Roman

[andrew roman]

At least John McCain is back to his old self. This assumes, of course, at some point he wasn't.

Believe me, he was. (See the entire 2008 campaign).

He's back to being the crotchety old Republicrat spitfire, Mac the Mav.

That reach-across-the-aisle, strolling-down-the-median joie de vivre he possesses (and can beckon at will) is throttling up for the new administration.

Goodie gumdrops.

Since the time is just about right for McCain to ride the wave of ascendancy back into the good graces of the media (who, you'll recall, once upon a time, had rockets in their pockets for him when he was still their beloved "maverick," only to turn on him once he became the lead obstacle for "The One"), what better way to worm his way back into fishwrap favor than to get "comprehensive" with illegal immigration?

You remember that golden nugget, don't you?

It was all the rage in 2007.

It looks as though it'll make a hasty return in the early going of the Obama Chronicles next year, according to Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Reid said:

On immigration, there's been an agreement between (President-elect Barack) Obama and (Arizona Republican Sen. John) McCain to move forward on that. ... We'll do that. We have to get this economy stuff figured out first, so I think we'll have a shot at doing something on health care in the next Congress for sure. ... We've got McCain and we've got a few others. I don't expect much of a fight at all. Now health care is going to be difficult. That's a very complicated issue. We debated at great length immigration. People understand the issues very well. We have not debated health care, so that's going to take a lot more time to do.

Everyone who saw this coming, go grab an "attaboy" out of petty cash. (Don't worry, there are a ton of them in there).

If, however, for some reason, McCain finds himself too busy bucking his own side of the auditorium during the next session of Congress to blow kisses over to the Dems, no worries...

Over at the Hot Air blog, AllahPundit writes:

And if they don’t get around to it in this Congress? Good news — Maverick’s officially running for re-election, so he can be the GOP point man for The One in 2011 or 2012 if need be. Exit question: Any predictions on how the Senate vote will shake out next time? Given the beating McCain took from Hispanic voters, I’ll put the over/under at 70.

Add to the lovefest, the announcement of Obama's new immigration team, headed by Stanford law professor Tino Cuéllar, described by John Trasviña, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, as "brilliant beyond his years."

Ooh, yummie. A lawyer.

More goodie gumdrops.

Needless to say, Obama's new "border boys" aren't thrilling anyone on our side. While many of "The One's" other appointments thus far have proven slightly less than horrible - even though none of them would be on my fifth string team - I get that queasy kind of uneasy looking at those who will be charged with formulating "sound immigration policy" for the United States.

As Tyche Hendricks of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote:

" ... Cuéllar was named this week to lead President-elect Barack Obama's transition working group on immigration, putting him among the many scholars from the Bay Area who are helping shape the next administration. Lawyers and immigration experts across the country praised him Friday for his intellect and his grasp of both regulatory minutiae and the big picture of American immigration policy."

Once I reached the words "scholars from the Bay Area," I walked.

Here's a question ... In terms of how many months after Bam's inaguration, how long until the borders look like - what my mother used to call my room - who-did-it-and-ran?

I'll put that over/under at 6.

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[Arizona Carolyn]

Well I, for one, will not support McCain’s run in 2010. He needs to go and if it means voting for the D to get rid of him, I will. I sincerely hope he is challenged in the primary.

[Arizona Carolyn]

It’s not just immigration. Frankly, I’m surprised people there are not upset that the man never seems to have a position or thought of his own; he truly is McCain’s lackey... If I lived in SC I would have been furious that he spent time that should have been doing my states business traveling everywhere with McCain on his plane to hold his hand for a year. I don’t consider him congressional much less senatorial, material.