Minutemen for McCain
(The American Conservative) -- by W. James Antle III --
Ending birthright citizenship is suddenly all the rage among Republican big shots in Washington. Both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner have endorsed the idea. So has Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl. But one surprising voice has joined the chorus.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican known for being a pro-amnesty “maverick,” has led the charge in getting the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on citizenship reforms long touted by immigration restrictionists. Graham hasn’t suddenly found religion on controlling illegal immigration. He’s just looking for political cover for his next piece of amnesty legislation.
“Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that I need to go home to South Carolina and say: listen, I know we’re all upset that we have 12-14 million people illegally, ” Graham admitted to National Review. “I’m going to have to be practical. We’re not going to deport or jail 12-14 million people.” He then touted the same “comprehensive immigration reform” South Carolina conservatives have overwhelmingly scorned as amnesty.
Of course, Graham had already signaled less directly that he is not really serious about addressing the illegal-immigration problem with enforcement rather than amnesty. One of his ideas for reforming birthright citizenship was to revise the Fourteenth Amendment with another constitutional amendment. As has been demonstrated on issues ranging from abortion to flag-burning, no-hope constitutional amendments are the standard way Republican politicians turn out the conservative base without actually having to do anything concrete to promote conservative policies.
Why would Graham, one of the most prominent supporters of amnesty in the Republican Party, so brazenly engage in empty pandering? Perhaps he has learned from his mentor, Sen. John McCain. McCain was Ted Kennedy’s partner in pursuing amnesty for illegal immigrants during the Bush years. He is now seeking reelection in Arizona, a state that has been severely damaged by the country’s porous borders and whose voters — particularly the Republican primary electorate — are angry about immigration non-enforcement.
Yet according to polls of GOP primary voters, McCain still leads. In some cases, he is ahead by more than 20 percentage points. McCain’s conservative primary challenger, former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, is far from perfect. But Hayworth has a point when he says that McCain is not a trustworthy convert to the immigration-enforcement cause. Hayworth has a devastating ad tying McCain’s admission that he’s lied to win elections before with the incumbent senator’s longtime amnesty advocacy. It remains to be seen whether it will dent McCain’s standing...MORE
The security fence hasn’t just gone from being “goddamned” to “danged.” McCain has gone from being in league with open-borders Republicans and pro-immigration liberals to being, in the sheriff’s catchphrase, “one of us.” That’s “us” as in pro-sovereignty conservatives who favor serious enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. How did this happen?
Conservatives of all stripes have been too quick to forgive Republican malfeasance. This was all too evident when McCain captured the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and proceeded to win overwhelming conservative support for his dismal general election campaign against Barack Obama. But immigration hawks have proved the most pliant.
Illegal immigration motivates as much passionate grassroots activism as is seen among the Tea Party or pro-life movements. Just ask the Minutemen. But you would seldom see dedicated Tea Partiers bailing out a pro-bailout politician in a competitive Republican primary. Similarly, pro-lifers did not rally behind Rudy Giuliani, a staunch defender of legal abortion, when “America’s Mayor” sought a promotion to the presidency. Why isn’t amnesty sinking McCain in a Republican primary in Arizona, of all places?
The restrictionist Right has made a great deal of progress in pushing a pro-business Republican Party in the direction of its pro-enforcement base and away from its cheap-labor-lobby donors. Unfortunately, all but the most engaged of these anti-illegal immigration voters remain vague about what constitutes a pro-enforcement position. That means they are easy for Republican politicians to placate with the right rhetoric about immigration and border security...MORE...LINK
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