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After having a nice day off, it’s good to see that everyone is doing well, especially our friends in Minnesota (it’s midnight here, so my off day is over).
Now, is this quite possibly the biggest flip flop ever? Or at least since John Kerry uttered the immortal words,” I voted for it before I voted against it?” Take a look courtesy of the AP, via shotpolitics:
McCain changes course on immigration
By JENNIFER TALHELM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Thursday backed a scaled-down proposal that imposes strict rules to end illegal immigration but doesn?t include a path to citizenship.
The move away from a comprehensive measure is an about-face for the Arizona senator, who had been a leading GOP champion of a bill that included a guest worker program and would have legalized many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. It failed earlier this year.
?We can still show the American people that we are serious about securing our nation?s border,? McCain said in a statement, adding that the new bill would ?provide an essential step toward achieving comprehensive reform in the future.?
McCain?s immigration position has been a campaign liability among Republican voters and hurt his efforts to raise money. Other GOP presidential candidates, fellow Arizona Republicans and immigration opponents throughout the country have loudly decried his position.
Observers said McCain?s switch was political. ?He recognizes his position on the issue is killing him,? said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors vigorous immigration enforcement.
McCain?s co-sponsors include Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jon Kyl of Arizona. All three were leading advocates for the unsuccessful comprehensive immigration measure and were bombarded with criticism for their support.
Immigrants? rights advocates jumped to condemn their decision. ?It is fairly stunning they have gone from leaders on comprehensive reform legislation to lemmings running over the cliff? with the Republican opponents of the bill, said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum.
While listening in on a conference call Senator McCain had with supporters last Saturday, I was struck when he said that one of his first acts if elected president would be to “secure the borders.” Either McCain realises he was wrong by taking his earlier position and sponsoring the McCain-Kennedy Bill, or he has finally realised how much damage his position has caused his campaign. It may be to late, however. I’m sure the Romney folks love this after the bitter feud between the two candidates earlier in the summer, but it may not matter because John McCain has sadly become increasingly irrelevent in this campaign cycle. Like most of the posters here, it saddens me to see him fall so far because all of us I do think respect the man a great deal. Before Fred decided that he may seek the nomination in March, I was clearly on the fence over who to support, or if I could support any of them. I really wasn’t sure. However, I thought that McCain was someone I thought highly of and could vote for in the general election.
At the same time, maybe this isn’t so much of a flip as it is what he once said about immigration… that we need to get something done. Sadly, something is not anything and the McCain-Kennedy Bill was likely too much for the American people, and the last straw for the establishment GOP.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 pm
The conservatives fought long and hard to defeat the immigration bill. Personally I think representatives have a responsible to find the median between sticking to their core values and representing the peoples desires.
I hope McCain change of tone is because he realizes the people spoke and he needs to be malleable to those he represents. Of course that’s politicking, but politicking isn’t always bad.
I think it’s in the causes best interest to celebrate with McCain and view his new found proposals as a victory for the cause.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 pm
[...] post by Tommy Oliver and software by Elliott [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:07 am
I still won’t support McCain but I hope he is as aggressive in this new bill as he was in the amnesty bill. I welcome anyone who comes around to the Right side of issues. Conservatives shouldn’t treat people who adopt conservatism like suspects.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:13 am
I don’t think we should criticize him for wising up.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:34 am
McCain has been around a long time. Agree with him or not, one can’t say he doesn’t try to get things done. This seems to be a case where he tried to do what he believed was the right thing on immigration reform, it failed, and now he’s trying again. I always admired McCain for being one of the few left in the Senate to recognize that the art of compromise was often required to achieve the best results. As the Seante and the country become more polarized into left wing and right wing camps, where moderates have become an endangered species, McCain’s style often gets him in trouble with the GOP, as it surely did with immigration the first time around. I for one think it’s an admirable thing that he’s trying this again. It’s not a sign of capitulation to the conservatives but a sign of a politician who still takes his job in the Senate seriously.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:56 am
bjalder26 Says:
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:13 am
I don’t think we should criticize him for wising up.
No, only Romney is allowed to be dissed for this.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 am
heath: is this wising up? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBPbglD989s
For the record, border enforcement *WAS* in the McCain Kennedy immigration bill. In fact, it was a requirement before the z-visa bill was to go into affect. when you have all that facts it’s not so much of a flip-flop.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 am
[...] The Biggest Flip Flop Ever? After having a nice day off, it’s good to see that everyone is doing well, especially our friends in Minnesota (it’s midnight here, so my off day is over). [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:31 am
why would mccain do that. that was the only thing he had going for him, that he was ‘principled.’ if he loses that he really has nothing going for him.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
[...] Oliver at race42008.com comments: “Now, is this quite possibly the biggest flip flop ever? … While listening [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Sorry, Tommy, McCain flipped! He did not flopped. Let’s look at Kerry. He jumped between two or three positions on a certain issues FREQUENTLY, sometimes on the same day. (Hence Mitt not a flip-flopper, but a flipper).
Here, what I see is that McCain (hopefully that is what he is doing) recognized the danger of the open boundaries, and is taking a step back to focus on it, rather than the whole lot of immigration issues. THAT is how our Congressmen and women should function. We need to stop gift-wrap everything into one package.