I’ll admit from the outset that I have unrealistic expectations for political accountability, but I’m nevertheless surprised that a) this isn’t a bigger deal; and b) John McCain is so confident about media incompetence that he’d even take the risk in the first place.
John McCain says he has earned the trust of Hispanic voters by championing an immigration reform bill that nearly killed his presidential bid.
The Republican presidential candidate also says, in remarks prepared for delivery Monday in San Diego, that Democrat Barack Obama failed to take a similar stand on the politically explosive issue of illegal immigration. […]
McCain, a senator from Arizona, saw his White House bid nearly collapse from conservatives’ anger over his effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which opponents branded ”amnesty” for millions of illegal immigrants.
”I took my lumps for it without complaint. My campaign was written off as a lost cause. I did so not just because I believed it was the right thing to do for Hispanic Americans. It was the right thing to do for all Americans,” McCain said in the prepared remarks to the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza. He added, ”I do ask for your trust that when I say, I remain committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it. I think I have earned that trust.”
Now, we’re in the midst of a presidential campaign. Candidates are going to fudge details from time to time; it’s just how the process works.
But this is madness. McCain abandoned his own immigration bill, and gave his word that he opposed comprehensive reform. Then he abandoned his promise to voters again, re-embracing the legislation he’d disowned.
And he seriously believes he’s earned voters’ “trust” by virtue of his courageous consistency.
It’s an odd dynamic. I was offended by George W. Bush’s presidential campaign because I thought he was an idiot. Now, I’m offended by John McCain’s presidential campaign because he thinks we’re idiots.
He took his “lumps … without complaint”? Comprehensive immigration reform was simply “the right thing to do for all Americans”?
Once again, Here’s McCain seven months ago, promising not to support comprehensive immigration reform:
“I understand why you would call it a, quote, shift,” McCain told reporters Saturday after voters questioned him on his position during back-to-back appearances in this early voting state. “I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people’s priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders.”
And here he is four months ago, promising not to support comprehensive immigration reform:
“[I] have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage another wave of illegal immigration.
And here he is two months ago, promising not to support comprehensive immigration reform:
“As the recent immigration debate demonstrated, Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make our border secure. As president, I will honor that pledge by securing the border, thus strengthening our national security. I will also require that, among other things, border-state governors certify that the border is secure before proceeding to other reform measures.”
McCain felt so strongly about this, he told a national television audience earlier this year that he’d vote against his own bill if it came to the Senate floor.
And yet, here’s John McCain, telling the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza that when he expresses his support for comprehensive immigration reform, voters can believe him — because he’s “earned” our “trust.”
I wonder how the media would react if Obama tried to pull a stunt like this.