Team McCain: No Shift Away From Border Security First
NRO
I doubt this will mitigate the anger of bloggers like John Hawkins much, but Team McCain tells me there's been no change in his stance on immigration — secure the border first, deal with other aspects of illegal immigration once the border is secure. Recently, McCain made comments that seemed to suggest he was eager to get to the second part, which conservatives and border security types are understandably wary about.
"Senator Kennedy and I tried very hard to get immigration reform, a comprehensive plan, through the Congress of the United States," he said. "It is a federal responsibility and because of our failure as a federal obligation, we're seeing all these various conflicts and problems throughout our nation as different towns, cities, counties, whatever they are, implement different policies and different programs which makes things even worse and even more confusing."
He added: "I believe we have to secure our borders, and I think most Americans agree with that, because it's a matter of national security. But we must enact comprehensive immigration reform. We must make it a top agenda item if we don't do it before, and we probably won't, a little straight talk, as of January 2009."
Mr. McCain asked others on the panels for suggestions about how to "better mobilize American public opinion" behind the notion of comprehensive immigration reform.
Team McCain tells me the senator's comments were poorly worded. There's been no discussion within the campaign of altering their stance on illegal immigration, and as far as everyone on the campaign is concerned, the policy is still, 'secure the border first.'
I said, "so, this change away from border-security-first wouldn't happen, unless John McCain and his top advisers had gotten together, studied it in great detail, weighed all the advantages and disadvantages, and came to the carefully-considered conclusion that they're really not interested in winning the election?" The strategist laughed and agreed. |
