Immigration Roller Coaster for McCain

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McCain zigzags on immigration
By: Gebe Martinez
September 17, 2008 04:49 PM EST

POLITICO.COM

Republican presidential nominee John McCain is zigzagging again.

On comprehensive immigration legislation, McCain has not been a “straight-talker,” nor has he been a classic flip-flopper. You know the type: “He was for it before he was against it.” No, McCain has chosen a more twisted path.

Well-known is McCain’s co-sponsorship with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)of the 2006 Senate immigration bill, which proposed combining border security with tougher employer sanctions, temporary worker visas and legalization of about 12 million undocumented immigrants. When Republican voters protested in 2007, McCain backed away from the measure, calling for “border security first.”

Then, a few weeks ago, he asked Latino community leaders to “trust” him on the immigration issue and uttered “comprehensive” — as in “one bill” — for the first time in months. But then came a hard right turn at the Republican National Convention, when the party adopted a conservative platform that rejected McCain’s support for the comprehensive measure. The language was a far cry from what Karl Rove negotiated for President Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign.

A few days ago, in what was clearly an insult to anyone who participated or watched the Senate immigration debates, McCain issued a Spanish-language ad that wrongly blamed his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, and fellow Democrats for blocking approval of the Senate’s broad immigration bill. But the bill fell when only 12 of the 49 Senate Republicans supported it.

The ad is jaw-dropping stuff. It contends Obama is “not ready to lead” because he introduced and voted for “poison pill” amendments — language that, if approved, would have undermined the delicately negotiated bipartisan bill, which Obama supported. As opposed to McCain, who turned the bill over to the White House and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) so that he could go to the campaign trail, abandon his full-throated support of his own measure and talk about border security first?

The ad targeted Latino voters in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, leaving Latino political leaders disappointed, frustrated and confused by the zigzagging.

They question McCain’s ability to lead on immigration as president if he cannot stand up to his party conservatives as a candidate.

“Having worked with Sen. McCain for a long time [on comprehensive immigration reform], I truly believe he’s a firm believer on this issue,” said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of National Council of La Raza, the civil rights group that hosted McCain this summer when he appealed for trust and understanding. However, she added, “the fact that the [GOP] platform turned out so differently than Sen. McCain’s position has confused some people as to whether or not he can deliver his party.”

Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-comprehensive immigration group, is less sanguine. He said conservatives have remained steadfast in their opposition to visa expansions and other parts of the bill, favoring only tough enforcement such as the recent immigration raids that rounded up hundreds of suspected illegal immigrant workers, separated families and instilled fear.

“We may never move legislation even if ‘President’ McCain wants to move the legislation,” Sharry said. Expecting a better outcome after his rhetorical shifts to the right “is like giving an alcoholic a drink and hoping they get sober tomorrow.”

The fear among Latinos is palpable. Harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric often makes no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants or between native-born and foreign-born Latinos. While the issue is not the top concern of Latino voters, according to public polls, it is a “threshold” issue that separates “who the good guys are and who the bad guys are,” Munoz said.

A survey conducted last month in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida for NDN, a progressive group, showed two-thirds of all voters and at least 73 percent of Hispanic voters supporting the broad immigration plan. Republicans fared poorly on their handling of the issue in the poll that was conducted in the days before McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate — a choice that wowed conservatives but leaves a question mark on the immigration issue.

In reaching out to Latino voters, McCain has highlighted his serious, decades-long work on behalf of Hispanics with hopes of overcoming the negative Republican brand. But the party’s tough stance on immigration has hurt McCain. “I think the die is cast when it comes to the immigration issue,” said NDN’s pollster, Sergio Bendixen.

Obviously, McCain tries to sound tough on immigration to avoid further angering his party’s conservative base. With the national media paying scant attention to the issue — a situation that should end when the debates begin — McCain has rarely been called out for playing to both sides.

The closest McCain and Obama came recently to exchanging immigration views occurred last week.

McCain’s campaign released a letter to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute that explained his last-minute decision not to attend their gala. The letter foreshadowed the attack about to be released in his Spanish-language ad.

“My efforts were stymied by ideologues in both parties, including my opponent, who voted five separate times for poison pills by special interests to kill immigration reform, votes that Sen. Kennedy and I opposed,” McCain stated. “I will first convince the American people that we can secure our borders. I will then work to enact a practical and fair immigration policy, one that ensures respect for the laws of this country, recognizes the important economic contribution of immigrant laborers, apprehends those who came here illegally to commit crimes, and deals practically and humanely with those who came here to build a better, safer life for their families, without excusing the fact that they came here illegally.”

Later, Obama reaffirmed his support for the immigration bill and struck back: “You’ve got to ask yourself: If Sen. McCain won’t stand up to opponents of reform at his own convention, how can you trust him to stand up for change in Washington?”

Obama told the 2,300-member, bipartisan audience, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for a president who won’t walk away from comprehensive immigration reform when it becomes politically unpopular.”

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said McCain should have shown up because the Latino vote will matter this year. “He gave in on the Republican platform,” said Menendez. “He certainly has, in my mind, abandoned the [Latino] community.”

If Menendez is wrong, McCain can clear up the ongoing confusion by answering the question posed in his campaign ad: “Which side are they on?”

Gebe Martinez is a longtime journalist in Washington and a frequent lecturer and commentator on the policy and politics of Capitol Hill.

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