McCain Blasts Romney, Says Cornyn Exchange Exaggerated
WORLDWIDE STANDARD
By Michael Goldfarb
Senator McCain participated in another conference call today with assorted bloggers and reporters.
McCain opened the call with an explanation of the widely-reported dust-up that occurred late last week between him and Senator John Cornyn. McCain reportedly dropped an F-bomb on Cornyn after Cornyn accused him of "parachut[ing] in here on the last day" of negotiations on immigration reform to offer objections. McCain "suggested" today that "the exchange between myself and my friend John Cornyn was a bit exaggerated...I'm sorry that YouTube wasn't there to give you the full and complete picture of what took place, sometimes we have tough issues and sometimes we are very frank with each other."
Another highlight came when Ryan Sager asked if the senator had any response to attacks by Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson over his support for this latest proposed immigration reform. McCain: "I'm a little disappointed in Fred [Thompson] because he had a very different position not that long ago, but since he's not a declared candidate, I think that Fred will [soon] be able to articulate his position, I think. In the case of the governor [Romney] maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if it changes because it's changed in less than a year from his position before and maybe his solution will be to get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn, I don't know."
McCain spoke at length about immigration, saying "the system in this country is broken, it poses an enormous national security risk. There are 12 million people in the country illegally, we have no idea who they are or where they are...this legislation has first and foremost securing the border. In fact 18 months is given for the notification that the border is going to be secured before any other action can take place."
On the issue of amnesty, McCain said: "I don't know how you can call a $5,000 fine, a wait of at least eight years, going back to the country of origin, as fitting the dictionary definition."
Powerline's John Hinderaker pressed McCain, who explained that illegals would essentially be placed on a "probationary status...they're going to have to go through background checks, they have to pay fines, they have to go back to the country [of origin] if they want to have any kind of real legal status...then the green card backlog has to be cleared up, which is at least about eight years, some say more than that, before they can get in line behind everybody else to have a truly legal status...I don't view that as amnesty, and I don't see unless you give them some kind of probationary status, the other choice is to deport everyone of them, or leave them in some sort of illegal status--the status quo."
Ann Althouse asked "isn't there some truth to the idea that you were parachuting in as was reported?" McCain explained he'd been "in daily contact with the negotiators, back and forth on conference calls, meetings with Republicans and Democrats--I've been involved with it for many years...in intense negotiations a lot of things are said and my friend John and I had a difference of opinion."
Jennifer Rubin asked if McCain was surprised at the reaction from the conservative base to the immigration bill, particularly the boos that greeted Senator Graham this weekend at a townhall meeting in his home state. McCain: "Well, of course I was a bit disappointed in the reaction because I was hoping they would evaluate it rather than listen to some people's interpretation of it. I think that this is a proposal on an issue that is very well known, I think it's fairly easy to comprehend it. I think we should vote for cloture and then relevant amendments, not irrelevant amendments, will be allowed. I'd like to get it done this week, in five days of intense debate and amendments. If we can't, we can't."
I asked McCain about the rapidly growing MRAP program and whether he's comfortable with where the program is right now--with outstanding requests for as much as $25 billion, from just $2 billion in January. McCain said "everything I've heard and seen of its demonstrated capabilities are that it saves lives, so money obviously shouldn't be the major object here. I've been briefed by many people who say, 'look this can save a lot of American lives, it's an important program, and we ought to pump as much money as possible into it.' I think we ought to have hearings, and I'm sure we will, as to whether there's too much money and they're moving too rapidly, but you know this is kind of a reversal from the usual DoD procedure where they get a good idea and it takes them an inordinate length of time to get it into practice and into operational capability. So far I'm happy with the reaction we've gotten from DoD, particularly given the increased lethality of some of these IEDs coming out of Iran."
Asked if the 9/11 "truther virus" is damaging American prestige at home and abroad, McCain said that "it's something that happens in America, and probably a sign of a healthy American that these theories are given visibility...but at the same time it does hurt us, particularly in this war of public opinion, where we're not doing as well as we should be, to say the least, to have some credible people, quote members of Congress, questioning the whole rationale for our response...he [Ron Paul] is entitled to his views. I don't believe that--that number is disturbing, of the 30 percent of the Democrats [that believe that Bush had prior knowledge of 9/11], but I think that has more to do with the dislike, the irrational dislike in my view, personal dislike of President Bush than it does of most anything else...at the end of the day, I rely on the good sense of the American people."
On Iraq, McCain said there has been a dramatic turnaround in Anbar, but that he worries "a great deal" about the Maliki government. He repeated several times that the war in Iraq is going to be "long, and hard, and tough" and that it will take "patience and time" to win. "I'm afraid time is not on our side, but I still believe that this is the best strategy, and I still believe the consequences of failure are catastrophic." |
