Posted on 09/04/2008 10:58:17 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ST. PAUL, MINN. - Republican John McCain's primary campaign almost collapsed last year under the weight of opponents' attacks that he backed "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
As McCain prepares to accept his party's nomination for president tonight, past critics of the Arizona senator's position have rallied behind his candidacy.
McCain, meanwhile, has backed away from signature immigration legislation and signed off on a party platform that makes a fence along the Mexican border a priority.
The party's Twin Cities unity on immigration bridges, for now, an increasingly charged ideological rift for Republican candidates and campaigns.
"We don't go around talking about things we disagree with John on," said Jon Fleischman, a California delegate and the publisher of the Flash Report, a conservative Web site. "Even taking those into account, he's vastly better than Barack Obama."
Added Mike Madrid, a Latino political consultant: "The family feud is over now."
McCain inflamed immigration critics in 2005 when he and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass, introduced sweeping legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S.
Many Republicans rejected the bill, describing it as amnesty for people who had broken the law.
Teresa Dix, a Republican delegate from Lake Elsinore, initially supported former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the presidency and was wary of McCain's position on immigration.
On Wednesday, Dix said she was convinced that the Arizona senator was attuned to the financial toll of illegal immigration in Inland Southern California.
"I think he understands that we're very concerned about the effects on our economy," Dix said. "It's crippling."
Added Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, "He fought like a tiger for his bill, and he failed. Now he's gotten the message."
Still a Priority
Campaign spokesman Rick Gorka said McCain would quickly move to enact the more widely accepted portions of his comprehensive immigration reform plan, if he is elected. Foremost among that, he said, is a strengthened border.
He rejected the notion that McCain has flip-flopped on the issue. McCain, he said, would still favor a path to citizenship, provided that undocumented immigrants pay taxes and learn to speak English.
The GOP platform has stronger language. Adopted Monday, it refers to "illegal aliens" and rails against so-called sanctuary cities, opposes giving driver's licenses or in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants, and condemns any form of amnesty.
"The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity," the platform reads. "The American people's rejection of en masse legalizations is especially appropriate given the federal government's past failures to enforce the law."
Appealing to Latinos
Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, said a hard party line on immigrants could make it harder for Republicans to attract Latino voters. In July, the nonpartisan Field Poll found that Latinos preferred Obama to McCain 64 percent to 21 percent.
"The party's platform is written by and supported by the Republican Party activists. It's not written by the general American public," Garcia said.
McCain, she said, has tried to address the issue fairly, he said.
"Whether you agree with him or disagree with him on immigration, he's working on the issue," she said.
That McCain has remained to the left of his party's conservative base on immigration shows the bipartisan appeal that Republicans hope will bring votes to the GOP ticket in November, said Bill McLaughlin, a delegate from Upland.
"We have to reach across the aisle," he said. "McCain has been very successful at finding ways to make things work."
Democrats' View
A June USA Today/Gallup survey found Obama essentially tied with McCain on handling illegal immigration.
The Democratic platform calls for more spending on border security. It also sets out a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally. The Democrats' platform does not mention "illegal aliens."
"Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers," Sen. Obama, D-Ill., said in his acceptance speech last Thursday.
During the Republican convention's first three days, no high-profile speaker had mentioned the subject.
Immigration wasn't always such a volatile topic, said Stu Spencer, a former advisor to President Reagan, who signed landmark immigration legislation in 1986.
It increasingly became one. In 1994, California voters approved Prop. 187, which would have denied social services to people in the country illegally. Courts later prevented it from taking effect.
In recent years, business groups, backed by President Bush, have tried to get Congress to approve temporary worker programs. Immigration critics, including some in the mass media, have bitterly opposed those efforts.
The debate fueled the GOP primary fight for the 2008 nomination. Romney trashed McCain for supporting "amnesty." Romney has since endorsed McCain.
Some past rivals are still unhappy.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., whose aborted presidential campaign centered on criticizing illegal immigration, recently told the National Journal that McCain was the "lesser of two evils" on the issue.
ping
ping
ping
It may be Palin’s job to educate McAmnesty that if he wants to be in the White House, he needs to wise up to the destruction from down south...stop being politically correct and run the invaders back down to Tortillaville.
My town is a dump and we spend millions on children not even supposed to be in classrooms.
It has to stop...it will, if Palin can rid the coot of his Liberal tendencies that piss off the base.
Wow, I’m surprised it took them until Sept. to try and use this wedge to divide the GOP. That’s kind of good news-—it suggests they are really getting desperate.
"Whether you agree with him or disagree with him on immigration, he's working on the issue," she said."
Oh really.
You might ask Sen. John Cornyn - I'm relatively certain he has a different opinion on that...
We have no choice but to elect McCain/Palin; the consequences of the alternative are horrible beyond our ability to imagine. But let us not fall asleep on the immigration problem. After the election we of the grass roots will be obliged to light a fire under that seemingly intractible problem.
Wow...the platform sounds tough on illegals...great.
Now lets keep McCain with the platform...and keep the Chamber of Commerce/Collective of Communists out of this issue.
The fact that “illegal aliens” are referred to as “illegal aliens” probably is most telling. Tired of hearing so called “conservatives” using the “illegal immigrant” term
Referring to “illegal aliens” as “immigrants” is like referring to “bank robbers” as “depositors”
You think she has a lot of experience with illegal immigrants there in Alaska?
I'd find that a little hard to believe.
I do.
"Even taking those into account, he's vastly better than Barack Obama."
That ain't sayin' much.
Added Mike Madrid, a Latino political consultant: "The family feud is over now."
Not for me it isn't!
considering a majority of the speakers are hardly in the category of hard-core conservatives or anything close to right wing extremists but prefer the middle of the road, I would say Sarah has her hands full at kicking liberal tendencies to the curb, if she is even allowed to do so, if elected..
“”The party’s platform is written by and supported by the Republican Party activists. It’s not written by the general American public,” Garcia said.”
Count your blessings, Garcia...if it had been written by the American public it would be a lot harsher!
So...what is Palin’s stand on illegal aliens/border security? Is she weak like McCain...or along with the majority of the GOP and America (no illegals)?
Weakness on Illegal Aliens/border security is weakness on National security. If you cant be firm on illegals...you will defintely be squishy on terrorists
Instead of all the tabloid crap...I want to know how she stands on the issues..
I think more than a few of us here are already resigned to a McCain administration and the inevitable battles that lie ahead on the immigration issue, for starters.
This avoidance or burying of the issue reminds me of the goings on in the Schwarzenegger regime and how it came to and holds power today.
That some of the same folks worked for him and the Bush administration should come as no surprise.
Just Win, Baby! We’ll sweat the details later. ;-]
Two! Two! Two countries, one government! The United States and Mexicorruption.
Note this was BEFORE the party announced it's "hard line" on illegal immigration.
In other words, the party has NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain by taking a hard line, Bonnie.
Campaign spokesman Rick Gorka said McCain would quickly move to enact the more widely accepted portions of his comprehensive immigration reform plan, if he is elected. Foremost among that, he said, is a strengthened border.
The problem is, McCain will argue that amnesty is ‘widely accepted’ and call the rest of us bigots.....just like he did last time.
Not on your life!
Once elected, Juan will have to be reminded daily that the same people who put him over the top kicked him to the ground only a year before - over amnesty as "reform".
He can't take grudging approval of his candidacy, and real excitement about his pick as VP, as a license to pay off his perceived debts to the mexican government or their operatives in Arizona and Crawford.
Yeah, we've heard it before about global warming: "The debate is over." Don't count on it!
"I think he understands that we're very concerned about the effects on our economy," Dix said. "It's crippling."
That never stopped him. His cap and trade bill will cost the economy trillions and Fiorina was just touting this again yesterday at the convention.
Added Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, "He fought like a tiger for his bill, and he failed. Now he's gotten the message."
How come he continues to say that "comprehensive immigration reform" is still his priority, David? Isn't his position the same OBL policy that you have backed?
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