MCCAIN: You’ll have to tell me what’s changed. I love it when they say, “Oh McCain has changed.” And I say, “What have I changed on?” They can’t name a single issue or they’ll name an issue and its false. I’m the same guy. I’m proud of our campaign.

It is not exactly a winning message but the interview presented itself with a rather easy challenge: name McCain's flip-flops.

Think Progress identified 44 of them.

Perhaps Congressman King should watch Univision. During an interview aired this past Sunday, McCain suggested he disagreed with his Party's platform on immigration and legalization of undocumented immigrants, and even suggested he opposed the Republican platform's call to make English the official language and end bilingual education. As the New York Times' editorial board noted, the Republican platform adopted just last week treats "undocumented immigrants as, more or less, criminals." [New York Times, 9/3/08]

"Clearly someone isn't telling the truth, and John McCain owes the voters an explanation," said Democratic National Commitee spokesman Luis Miranda. "Are voters supposed to believe Steve King and the Republican Party platform or should they believe John McCain? This is one more example that John McCain doesn't offer change, he promises more of the same misleading politics of the last eight years."

Below are excerpts of McCain's interview that aired on Univision on Sunday September 7, 2008:

Univision: Senator, the platform of your party says, and I am quoting, "We support the adoption of English as the official language of the United States, and we demand the abolition of bilingual education." Do you agree with this?

John McCain: No, look it's fine with me if English is the official language, because it is our official language, it is. Anyone that comes to this country that wants to move up the economic ladder, we all know has to learn English, is a requirement for citizenship, so we all know that, but the point is...If you want to call it official, it already is official, official or unofficial it is our language, but I come from a state where Spanish was spoken before English, o.k.? So, I cherish Spanish language, our heritage, our culture, our food, everything about our Hispanic culture and that is what I want our party and Americans to do...

Univision: Senator, the last time we talked, you told us that it would take a year or two to secure the border, and then you said we can address the other part of it. Would that include massive legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants in this country?

John McCain: I think it means that we go through a step by step process of allowing people to apply and achieve citizenship in this country, of course. But, I want to point out again; it's a little more complicated.

Univision: It goes against the platform of your party, by the way, because they are against the legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants.

John McCain: My position is very clear, and that was part of our proposal, that I took up twice…So, what we need to do is take the two million according to Chertoff, that have broken laws in our country, and deport or imprison them, they are law breakers. Other people who have come here and have been here for a period of time and are law abiding citizens and are willing to go through a certain process, of course, there is not a twelve million pairs of handcuffs in America. So, we can together republican and democrat work out this issue, provide a path to citizenship, on the principle that they do not take any priority over anyone who came to this country legally, or waited legally...

Univision: Senator Barack Obama told us in an interview that he would present a comprehensive immigration reform to congress during the first year could you match that?

John McCain: Sure, I would do it in the first day, but I was the one who led, I was the one who led with Senator Kennedy, a great political risk to my self.

I am so honored to be here today, representing the diversity of our Democratic Party and the coalition of 18 million people of all backgrounds and all walks of life that stood with Hillary and never gave up. This primary season, the Hispanic community participated in historic numbers. Hispanics will be a pivotal voice and vote in electing the next president. Together, we have made history this year—and it is only the beginning.

Now, I want to say a few words in Spanish: en esta primaria electoral nuestre communidad participomos con numerous historicos. Nosotros vamos a ser la voz decica en elegir el próximo presidente de los estados unidos, y estamos muy orgullosos que hicimos historia. Y apenas estamos empezando! Sí se pudo!

I am a fourth-generation American from New Mexico. My father, Juan Fernandez, was a miner, field worker, and union activist and state assemblyman. My mother, Alicia Chavez, was a feminist and small business owner. My parents instilled in me the importance of hard work, determination and putting one’s neighbor before oneself. Hillary’s values are the values of my family and of our community.

When César Chávez and I first organized farm workers and immigrants over 40 years ago, it was not easy. But we persevered, and we made progress. We believed that those who do backbreaking work for low wages, often in a dangerous workplace, deserve a champion, someone who will fight for them.

That is why I love and respect Hillary. She has stood with hardworking people and knows how important it is to keep fighting—and keep going. For many in America, working people are invisible. For Hillary Clinton, no American is invisible.

I stand with Hillary as she stands with Barack to take our country back. But now, Mrs. Chairman, on behalf of all woman and working families, I have the great honor to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton, my friend, our champion, for President of these United States of America.

On the surface, it could be viewed that Barack Obama’s parents had little in common with my parents. His father came from Africa; my parents came from Asia. They spoke different languages. Their paths surely never crossed. Yet our parents had much in common because they were united by the values they taught their sons: that in America, it doesn’t matter where you came from, but where you are going. It doesn’t matter what your name is, but whether you are willing to work hard to make a name for yourself.

Barack Obama’s life reaffirms the American dream, a dream living in the hearts and lives of countless American families from the eastern shores, to the farmlands, to the Rocky Mountains, to my beloved California, and beyond. This is our nation’s great promise. But the promise feels harder to reach.

As the Controller of the State of California, my job is to build a brighter fiscal future for my state and her 38 million residents. Like every state, California is struggling with foreclosures, record gas prices and rising unemployment. We are working harder than ever, but still many of us are falling further and further behind.

But we know our future is still golden. We know of a path to the promised land and Barack Obama will lead us there. He understands, as John F. Kennedy said, that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Together we will rise, or together we will fall.

Here in Denver, and all across our country, we choose to rise. Together, we will rise and reject another four years of the same policies that brought us from a decade of economic prosperity to a decade of economic despair. Together, we will rise and overcome the challenges of poverty, access to health care, and energy independence.

Barack Obama will give us the change we need, so that the values of hard work and opportunity that our parents taught us will ring just as loud, clear and true for our children as they did for us. Let those values be our calling. And once again build a country that embraces the great promise of her people.

Thank you and God bless you all.

But that is not what John McCain told right-wing bloggers on an October 25, 2007 conference call. McCain emphasized that he has "said it a thousand times" that he "got the message" on immigration. However, don't take my word for it, ask conservative blogger Paul Mirengoff:

As for the Dream Act, McCain told us that he would have voted against cloture (i.e., in favor of preventing a vote) because he "got the message" this summer that Americans want the border secured before we "go on to the rest." McCain would deem parts of the border secure when the governor of the relevant state so certifies.

Since McCain is clearly on record as to how he would have voted on the Dream Act cloutre motion, and since his vote was not needed to prevent cloture, there seems to be no basis for criticizing his departure for Iowa prior to the vote.

How about the National Review's Jim Geraghty?

On the vote on the DREAM Act yesterday: I would have voted against it I have said a thousand times, I have heard the message from the American people. They want the border secured first and then they want – well, at least I want to go on to comprehensive reform.

We released this video showing the two sides of John McCain on the DREAM Act. More proof that John McCain's willingness to pander knows no bounds. He will say anything to anyone to get their support.

To listen to the remarks from the conference call, click on the link below:

http://www.democrats.org/page/-/audio/calls/071408_conferencecall_remarks.mp3

The following are excerpts from the call:

Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) (0:37)

"In terms of Senator McCain's remarks to the National Council of La Raza, we were hoping to find out which face of John McCain we'd see today, and we learned that we saw both faces. This is an individual politician who has become very good at sending different signals, depending on which audience he's addressing. At the National Council of La Raza I think he left probably more ambivalent feelings than anything else. It sounded like he might be in support of the Dream Act, but we've heard him say he hasn't been for the Dream Act; to try to help young Latino and other immigrant students make it into college.

"We find that he continues to be out of touch on issues relating to the economy, and certainly with regard to Iraq. We know that on immigration he has flip-flopped too many times to count, and at the end of the day this, to me, boils down to an issue of trust. For Latino voters, the issue of who will become the person who can deliver after eight years of seeing the serenades of President Bush and the Republicans, Latinos are very anxious to see someone who will deliver on the commitments to improve their economy, their job prospects, opportunities for good schools for their kids, healthcare, and certainly opportunities to become vibrant Americans, who are former immigrants. And so what we learned today, from John McCain in his presentation to the National Council of La Raza is that we didn't learn anything. We continue to see the two faces of John McCain, and we're trying to figure out which one we can trust, it's hard when you have someone who's flip-flopping on the issues."

Eliseo Medina, SEIU Executive Vice President (2:37)

"It seems to me that Senator McCain has had three opportunities, first with NALEO, second with LULAC, and third with NCLR to make his case of why the Latino community ought to support him for President of the United States. And I think that the Latino community more than anything else was hoping for some straight talk from the Senator, but I actually think after listening to him three times that we got the exact opposite. And it seems to me that the Senator is trying to have it both ways. First he says to our community that he appreciates our contributions to this society and that we are God's children, but at the same time, when it comes down to actually taking action to... match his words with acts, he fails. He walked away from McCain-Kennedy, the bill he helped to introduce, and carried his name. He walked away from the DREAM Act as the Congressman said. And at the same time, while doing all of these things, he wants us to believe that he's on our side and I think he's having a really hard time making it clear which side he's on."

FLASHBACK: In April, McCain Cited "Economic Conditions" for His Reversal on Balancing the Budget in Four Years; Said He Would Balance the Budget in Eight Years. "Senator John McCain offered the broadest look yet at his economic policies in a speech on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, outlining a series of tax reductions and backing away from his pledge to balance the budget by the end of his first term. … Mr. McCain -- who said in February in Wisconsin that he would balance the budget by the end of his first term as president -- seemed to reconsider that on Tuesday, saying at a news conference later in Villanova that 'economic conditions are reversed' and that he would have a balanced budget within eight years. His economic aides said they could pay for all the tax cuts with spending cuts." [New York Times, 4/16/08]

REALITY CHECK:

Skepticism on McCain Plan to Balance Budget by 2013. "The package of spending and tax cuts proposed by Senator John McCain is unlikely to achieve his goal of balancing the federal budget by 2013, economists and fiscal experts said Monday. 'It would be very difficult to achieve in the best of circumstances, and even more difficult under the policies that Senator McCain has proposed,' said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group." [New York Times, 7/8/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/us/politics/08budget.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1215518925-QuYWpPHGac28nR3Qprw1lg ]

McCain: No Plan to Keep Balanced Budget Pledge. "Mr. McCain has promised once again to balance the budget by the end of his first term in 2013, his advisers said Monday. They were reverting to an earlier pledge that Mr. McCain abandoned in April, when he proposed a series of costly tax cuts and, citing the ailing economy, said that it might take two terms to balance the budget… But it is unclear how Mr. McCain intends to balance the budget. Fiscal analysts who have examined Mr. McCain's plans say his calls to extend President Bush's tax cuts and cut corporate and other taxes without calling for comparable spending cuts could increase the federal budget deficit significantly." [New York Times, 7/8/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/us/politics/08econ.html ]

FactCheck.org: McCain's Spending Plans Don't Add Up. According to the non-partisan FactCheck.org, "McCain's big promise is that he can balance the budget while extending Bush's tax cuts and adding a few of his own. He likes to leave the impression that this can be done painlessly, for example, by eliminating 'wasteful' spending in the form of 'earmarks' that lawmakers like to tuck into spending bills to finance home-state projects. We found that not only is this theory full of holes, it's not even McCain's actual plan." [FactCheck.org, 5/13/08: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_budget_according_to_mccain_part_i.html ]

Washington Post Fact Checker: 4 Pinocchios for McCain's "Fantasy" Plan to Balance Budgets by Cutting Earmarks. "McCain's talk about eliminating $100 billion a year in earmarks is largely fantasy. His advisers are now promoting a more realistic plan of eliminating $100 billion in overall spending. But it is difficult to take even that promise very seriously given the fact that the senator refuses to identify exactly which projects he will be cut. To use a phrase coined by George H.W. Bush, this is 'voodoo economics,' based more on wishful thinking than on hard data or carefully considered policy proposals." [Washington Post Fact Checker Blog, 5/23/08: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/mccains_fantasy_war_on_earmark.html]

Cost of "Four More Years" Placed At $6.3 TRILLION. The CBO "January Budget and Economic Outlook" showed continued deterioration in the budget outlook with the projected 2008 deficit growing to $219 billion. But as bad as the budget situation has become under the current Republican Administration, continuation of the Republican policies by any of the Republicans on stage tonight will only make things worse. The majority staff of the Senate Budget Committee estimates that funding Republican priorities like making the Bush tax cuts permanent and funding ongoing - and perhaps permanent - operations in Iraq will add $6.3 trillion to the CBO's already dismal ten-year predictions. http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/documents/2008/cbojanupdatefactsheet2008.pdf

McCain only middle-class tax cut proposal completely leaves out 101 million households - including those working and middle-class Americans hardest hit by this downturn. In contrast, Senator Obama's plan benefits 95 percent of workers and their families. The principal middle class tax cut proposed by John McCain is an increase in the dependent exemption that will not be fully in effect until 2016. Most households without children would see nothing under the plan - a total of 101 million households, including 67 million households currently paying income taxes but who would not benefit because they have no dependents, and 34 million low-income households with no income tax liability but generally paying payroll taxes. Nearly all seniors (37 million out of 38 million) would be left out. Even for families with children, the increase in the dependent exemption provides only a modest tax cut. In the first year of the plan, it would be worth about $125 to a middle-class family with two children. That same family would eventually see their taxes increase under the McCain plan, because his health care plan would raise taxes on middle-class families over time. This is completely inadequate, and will not help the very people whose reduced spending is contributing to our slowing economy. The Obama plan offers more generous tax relief for middle class families, including a "Making Work Pay Credit" that would benefit 95 percent of workers and their families, providing $1,000 for a typical working family. Obama's plan would also expand tax credits to help families save, send a child to college, pay for childcare, and afford their mortgage, while eliminating income taxes for all seniors making less than $50,000. [Obama for America memo, The McCain Economic Plan: Four More Years?, 7/7/08]

IMMIGRATION REFORM: WHERE DOES MCCAIN REALLY STAND?

2005: McCain Introduced Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation With Senator Kennedy. "Millions of undocumented workers in the United States could come out of the shadows by registering with the government and paying fines or fees of at least $2,000 to begin earning permanent residency under the most sweeping immigration-reform bill in two decades. The bill introduced Thursday was dubbed the 'Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act' by its bipartisan group of sponsors, led by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. It would create a temporary-work visa program for foreigners to fill jobs requiring few or no skills, for up to six years. The legislation was touted as ensuring tougher enforcement of laws at the border and in the workplace while speeding the process of reuniting immigrant families. In addition, Mexico and other countries would be encouraged to enter into agreements to play a more active role in helping prevent illegal immigration into the United States, including promoting more economic opportunity back home. House sponsors Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Arizona Republicans, and Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., joined McCain and Kennedy on Thursday in casting the legislation as a comprehensive approach to immigration reform and national security." [The Arizona Republic, 5/13/05]

2008: McCain Said He Would Oppose the Legislation He Authored With Kennedy. Asked whether he would vote for the immigration legislation he previously sponsored, McCain eventually replied, "No, I would not." [CNN GOP Presidential Debate, 1/30/08]

2006: McCain Said an "Enforcement First" Strategy Focusing Only on Border Security is an "Ineffective And Ill-Advised Approach." "In April [2006], the Senate overwhelmingly passed, in a bipartisan fashion, a comprehensive immigration reform package designed to secure our borders as well as address the economic need for workers in our Nation. In passing this legislation, the Senate rejected the argument for an 'enforcement first' strategy that focuses on border security only, an ineffective and ill-advised approach. Congress cannot take a piecemeal approach to a national security crisis. I believe the only way to truly secure our border and protect our Nation is through the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform. As long as there is a need for workers in the United States and people are willing to cross the desert to make a better life for their families, our border will never be secure." [McCain, Congressional Record, 9/29/06]

2007: Presidential Candidate McCain Touts Securing The Border First. In 2008, McCain said, "And our proposal has got to be securing the borders first. The American people have no trust or confidence in us that we would secure the borders." In November 2007, McCain argued, "I want to assure you that I'll enforce the borders first." [CNN Larry King Live, 2/14/08; CNN/YouTube GOP Presidential Debate, 11/28/07]

2007: McCain Acknowledged His Shift on Immigration Reform During the Republican Primary Campaign. "John McCain spent months earlier this year arguing that the United States must combine border security efforts with a temporary worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Now, the Republican presidential candidate emphasizes securing the borders first. The rest, he says, is still needed but will have to come later. '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.' The shift in approach is likely to draw criticism from McCain's GOP opponents. Immigration has been a flash point in the race, with rivals Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson all seizing on it." [Associated Press, 11/3/07]

McCain's conversion was on full display at NALEO. During his prepared remarks, Senator McCain said we must prove "that we can and will secure our borders first." But McCain flipped minutes later during the question and answer session, saying comprehensive immigration reform would be "my top priority yesterday, today, and tomorrow." Finally, McCain concluded by reversing himself yet again, saying we need to "move forward with our border security and then address this issue in a humane and compassionate fashion."

"After watching him debate himself on immigration reform at NALEO today, it's easy to see why John McCain wanted to make last week's meeting with Hispanic leaders in Chicago a closed-door event," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "Apparently, Senator McCain's idea of 'straight talk' means giving two different answers to a straightforward question about whether he supports comprehensive immigration reform or an enforcement-first approach to the issue. McCain's promise to vote against his own comprehensive immigration reform bill is yet another example of his election year conversions on the critical issues facing our country."

To see the DNC's new video "McCain vs. McCain: Immigration Reform" click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYTUbJy71k

DNC VIDEO:
McCain vs. McCain: Immigration Reform
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYTUbJy71k

Chryon: McCain vs. McCain: Comprehensive Immigration Reform or Enforcement First?

Chryon: Round 1 - "Secure the Border First" - 11:13 AM

MCCAIN: "That we can and will secure our borders first while respecting the dignity and rights of citizens and legal residents of the United States." [McCain Remarks Before NALEO, 6/28/08]

Chyron: Round 2 - Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Not Enforcement First - 11:25 AM

QUESTION: "As the next President of the United States of America, will comprehensive immigration reform and not just enforcement be one of your top policy priorities in your first 100 days in office?"

MCCAIN: "It'll be my top priority yesterday, today, and tomorrow." [McCain Remarks Before NALEO, 6/28/08]

Chryon: Round 3 - Border Security First - 11:44 AM

MCCAIN: "That is a compelling reason for us to move forward with our border security, and then address this issue in a humane and compassionate fashion." [McCain Remarks Before NALEO, 6/28/08]

Chryon: January 2008: Would Vote Against His Own Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

QUESTION: "If your original proposal came to a vote in the Senate floor, would you vote for it?"

MCCAIN: "It won't. It won't. That's why we went through the debate."

QUESTION: "But what if it did?"

MCCAIN: "No, I would not." [CNN Debate, 1/30/08]

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Sen. Robert Menendez offered a scathing rebuke of McCain, painting him as a candidate who sold his political soul to secure his party's presidential nomination.

"In my mind, he has dramatically shifted. He has really taken a Republican tact," said the New Jersey Democrat. "It seems to me, and it is out there in the community, that he walked away at a critical time. And when you take that view, which shows that he is not the person of principle that he would like to show himself being, and you wear the Republican mantle that is so negative and anti-immigrant... I think it is very hard for John McCain to make hay with Latinos at the end of the day."

In 2005, drawing the ire of anti-immigrant conservatives, John McCain co-sponsored legislation with Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) that, after a series of fines, back taxes and other stipulations, would put undocumented immigrants on a path towards citizenship. The legislation was defeated.

In April 2007, John McCain answered a question about "borders first" immigration reform:

WALLACE: So let's talk about some of the conservative gripes. First of all, immigration. Last year, you sponsored a bill with Ted Kennedy that included a guest worker program and a path to earned citizenship. Do you still support McCain-Kennedy?

J. MCCAIN: I support many of the concepts in it. It didn't pass. The legislation didn't pass. So we've been sitting down and doing intensive negotiations with the president, with other conservative Republicans and Senator Kennedy to come up with something that will.

I think that it certainly is going to be a comprehensive proposal. And it certainly will be border enforcement as the first and foremost priority.

WALLACE: Border enforcement before the other parts of the package.

J. MCCAIN: Not before, but certainly there has to be the assurance that all necessary measures are being taken in order to secure our border. Americans deserve that.

So much for "securing the borders first." That summer, support for John McCain's campaign plummeted and the future presumptive GOP nominee was written off by pundits.

In order to keep up with the other GOP hopefuls who were trying to "out-Tancredo Tancredo," John McCain claims he "got the message" on immigration and takes a "borders first" approach to immigration reform.

In a January 2008 presidential debate at the Reagan Library in California, John McCain said he would not vote for the immigration reform he previously co-sponsored, reasserting his commitment to "borders first" reform that would "move onto the other aspects of this issue" at a later time.

Just last month, John McCain told business leaders that comprehensive immigration reform should be a "top priority" for the 44th President of the United States. Right-wing bloggers went ballistic and within 24 hours of the comments, the McCain campaign immediately set out to sooth the base, stating: "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."

Straight talk? Hardly.

McCain said he would pursue comprehensive immigration reform as soon as he takes office. But in the same news conference, McCain also took the opposite position: saying that the borders have to be secured first. McCain touted a virtual fence today and said we could have secured the border if it wasn't for all the earmarks and pork spending in Washington. But as recently as March, McCain called the virtual fence a "failed effort" and a "disgrace." Asked whether state and local law enforcement agencies should be enforcing federal immigration laws, McCain said "I support the enforcement of every law that's on the books in the United States of America." But moments later McCain took the opposite position, blaming the federal government for having "failed to act" and asserting, "when I'm president, beginning in January 0f 2009 we will have a federal approach to what is a federal problem."

Today's news conference was the latest in a string of double talk on immigration reform. Earlier this year, McCain caved in to the right wing of his Party, admitting that he would vote against his own immigration reform bill if it came to the floor of the Senate. And, despite today's rhetoric about the need for comprehensive immigration reform, McCain's campaign scuttled a deal on comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives just last month. [CNN debate, 1/30/08; http://youtube.com/watch?v=PgvFkICnRoo; Roll Call, 4/3/08]

McCain's double-talk is indicative of a major problem the GOP nominee faces heading to the general election, trying to both appease the Party's conservative base while trying to reach out to moderate voters and Hispanics who have been targeted with ugly Republican Party attacks on the immigration issue. A recent survey from the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center found that 57% of Hispanic registered voters call themselves or lean Democrat "while just 23% align with the Republican Party -- meaning there is now a 34-percentage-point gap in partisan affiliation among Latinos." [Pew Hispanic Center, 12/06/07]

"It's hard to know what someone's real vision for our country is when they consistently take every side of the issues," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda. "John McCain cannot have it both ways. He cannot pander to the right wing of his Party by promising an enforcement-only approach to immigration while telling Hispanics that he supports comprehensive reform. As the saying goes, 'dime con quien andas, y te diré quien eres.' If John McCain can't say where he really stands, he's giving voters one more example of why he is the wrong choice for America's future."

A DNC Interested Parties Memo on McCain's difficulty with Hispanics can be found in PDF format by clicking on the link below. http://www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/042208_Memo_McCainHispanics.pdf

More McCain Double Talk on Immigration Reform

MCCAIN TODAY: We Can Secure Border With "Vehicle barriers, Cameras, Sensors." "All of that can be worked out and adequately so, particularly when you get outside of populated areas where you can use vehicle barriers, cameras, sensors and many other ways. It is an issue that in my view is not only not insurmountable, but it can be worked out in cooperation between state and local and government agencies." [McCain Media Availability, Phoenix (AZ), www.cnn.com/live feed, 5/5/08]

• MCCAIN IN MARCH: McCain Called Arizona's "High-Tech" Virtual Fence a "Failed Effort" and a "Disgrace." The AP reported McCain "told reporters in Phoenix on Monday that not enough research has been done on the 28-mile array of radars and surveillance cameras. McCain says it is a failed effort." "It's a - it's a disgrace. It's a disgrace.they spent a huge amount of money on this quote virtual fence and it's just. I mean. I - It's so disappointing when the Americans highest, one of their highest priorities is to secure our borders, that we have a major corporation that gets a major contract and it turns into be a failed effort, but, in no way does this diminish my enthusiasm or anybody else's to get our borders secure." [CNN Live Feed (Phoenix, AZ), 3/3/08; [AP, 3/3/08]]

MCCAIN TODAY: We Must Secure The Border First. "We must secure the borders and the border state governors will then certify that the borders are secure. Then we have a temporary worker program with tamper-proof biometric documents and we address the issue of people who have come here illegally." [CNN Live Feed (Phoenix, AZ), 5/5/08]

February of 2007: McCain Admitted He Was Pandering to Conservatives on Border Enforcement, Saying, "I Think the Fence is Least Effective. But I'll Build the Goddamned Fence If They Want It." "A day earlier, in Milwaukee, in front of an audience of more sympathetic businessmen, McCain had been asked how debate over the immigration bill was playing politically. 'In the short term, it probably galvanizes our base,' he said. 'In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you'll pay a heavy price.' Then he added, unable to help himself, 'By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I'll build the goddamned fence if they want it.'" [Vanity Fair, February 2007]

• In September of 2006, McCain Said "Enforcement First" Was "An Ineffective and Ill-Advised Approach" to Immigration Reform. "In passing this legislation, the Senate rejected the argument for an 'enforcement first' strategy that focuses on border security only, an ineffective and ill-advised approach. . . . "Congress cannot take a piecemeal approach to a national security crisis. I believe the only way to truly secure our border and protect our Nation is through the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform. As long as there is a need for workers in the United States and people are willing to cross the desert to make a better life for their families, our border will never be secure." . . . "If Congress thinks that it can continue this piecemeal approach to border security and achieve any real results for our national security, it is sadly mistaken." [Congressional Record, 9/29/06]
• In May of 2006, McCain Said An Enforcement-First Approach to Immigration Reform Would Never Succeed in Stopping Illegal Immigration. "No wall, no barrier, no sensor, no barbed wire will ever stop people from trying to do what is a basic yearning of human beings all over the world, and that is to have better lives for themselves and their families." . . . "And as much as I believe in technology and as much as I think walls are important and UAVs and all that, there has never been a case in history where you have been able to stop people from doing something that has to do with their very existence. That is the way many people feel who come here." [Congressional Record, 5/16/06]
• In March of 2006, McCain Said An Enforcement-Only Bill Would "Never Be Fully Enforceable Regardless of Every Conceivable Border Security Improvement We Make." "The border security provisions under the leader's bill and the Judiciary Committee's bill provide sound proposals to promote strong enforcement and should be part of any final bill. However, I do not believe the Senate should or will pass an enforcement-only bill. Our experiences with our current immigration system have proven that outdated or unrealistic laws will never be fully enforceable regardless of every conceivable border security improvement we make. Despite an increase in Border Patrol agents from 3,600 to 10,000, despite quintupling the Border Patrol budget, despite the employment of new technologies and tactics, all to enforce current immigration laws, illegal immigration drastically increased during the 1990s." [Congressional Record, 3/30/06]
• 2001: McCain Opposed Federal Funding for Border Security. In 2001, Senator McCain criticized federal funding for projects that would be used by border and law enforcement agencies to increase security measures. McCain blasted the "unrequested" spending as a "further burden to the American taxpayers." McCain listed opposition to earmarks for several projects in Arizona that included a detainee facility in Prescott, a border guard service processing center in Florence, a border patrol sector headquarters in Tucson, and border patrol stations in Yuma and Douglas. [McCain Senate Press Release, 9/13/2001]
• 2003: McCain Opposed $25.6 Million for Tucson Border Control Station. In 2003, Senator McCain criticized $25.6 million for construction of a U.S. Border Patrol station in Tucson, Arizona. McCain deemed the project wasteful spending because it didn't go through proper legislative channels. [Gannett, 4/10/2003]\
• 2005: McCain Opposed Funds for Digital Transition and Public Safety Fund and Tactical Infrastructure At Border. In 2005 McCain opposed "$55 million for the completion of the Tucson tactical infrastructure around the border." McCain also opposed "a provision that directs funds from the Digital Transition and Public Safety Fund that are in excess of $12 billion to be spent on, among other things, the Tucson, Arizona Border Patrol sector;" and "$30 million for Tucson, AZ Border Patrol sector for tactical infrastructure." [Congressional Record 7/14/05; Congressional Record 12/20/05]

Hmmm. I smelled a significant shift in McCain's position. From what I recalled, McCain's 2005 immigration reform bill, which he sponsored alongside Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called for simultaneous measures to secure the border with Mexico and an earned path to legalization for millions of undocumented workers who are already in the United States.

Later, when he was running for the Republican nomination and faced an outcry from the anti-immigration wing of his party, he backpedalled to a two-step immigration approach: He said we must first secure the border, and only then deal with undocumented workers.

Now, it seems, he has retreated even further from his original stand and is proposing a three-step process, in which providing for a path to legalization of millions of undocumented workers would come at the very end.

Oppenheimer concludes:

McCain will be making a historic mistake if he continues caving in to immigration hawks in his party: He will never convince them that he is one of them, and he will lose the Hispanic vote that he needs to get to the White House. Worse, he will undermine his own claim that he is a straight-talk candidate and a true leader.

Arizona Republic:

"We believe this is a key for us to be able to go on the offensive here against John McCain," said Albert Morales, director of Hispanic outreach for the DNC.

DNC spokesman Luis Miranda said that although McCain's military service often makes him initially attractive to Hispanic voters, they tend to be disillusioned once they learn of his free-market approach to health care and his apparent shift on immigration policy.

Miranda said McCain's shift on immigration policy last year, in the face of strong opposition to his proposal for comprehensive reform that would include a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, represented "a betrayal of the Hispanic community."

The facts are clear. John McCain sold his principles down the river for political ambition. On the campaign trail with conservative crowds, John McCain continuously claimed "I got the message" on immigration.

What "message" was that? Maybe this one from Fred Thompson, who endorsed John McCain (twice), on "revisiting" birthright citizenship?

"I think that law was created at another time and place for valid reasons," the former U.S. senator from Tennessee said earlier this month. "It probably needs to be revisited."

Or this one from Tom Tancredo?

Tancredo also cited a recent report indicating that the "Catholic Church ... has been losing members rapidly -- as much as a third of the native-born Catholic population. Meanwhile, it has gained members among foreign-born (mostly Hispanic) residents."

"I suspect the Pope's immigration comments may have less to do with spreading the gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the church," said Tancredo. "This isn't preaching it is 'faith-based' marketing."

When John McCain says he "got the message," one must ask his or herself, which one?