McCain's secret meeting with Hispanics

[Yellowdogtexan]

This is amusing http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0608/McCains_secret_meeting_with_Hispanics.htmlHolding an off-schedule meeting with an interest group was bound to arouse interest, and sure enough comes an AP report about McCain's get together with Chicago-area Hispanics Wednesday night.

The predictable lede bound to irk some on the right:
Republican presidential John McCain assured Hispanic leaders he would push through Congress legislation to overhaul federal immigration laws if elected, several people who attended a private meeting with the candidate said Thursday.And, apparently, it's just McCain's luck that the head of the Minutemen in Illinois happens to be, you guessed it, Latino:"He's one John McCain in front of white Republicans. And he's a different John McCain in front of Hispanics," complained Rosanna Pulido, a Hispanic and conservative Republican who attended the meeting.

Pulido, who heads the Illinois Minuteman Project, which advocates for restrictive immigration laws, said she thought McCain was "pandering to the crowd" by emphasizing immigration reform in his 15-minute speech.

"He's having his private meetings to rally Hispanics and to tell them what they want to hear," she said. "I'm outraged that he would reach out to me as a Hispanic but not as a conservative."

[patriotsblade]

Now this is the way to lead. Run off and have private meetings to say things you wouldn't dare say to the rest of the country to try to secure the vote of one demographic. Classy. Very presidential.

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is some more on mc :cane's secret meeting with Hispanic leaders. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/20/mccain-discusses-immigrat_n_108297.htmlCHICAGO — Republican presidential John McCain assured Hispanic leaders he would push through Congress legislation to overhaul federal immigration laws if elected, several people who attended a private meeting with the candidate said Thursday.

Democrats questioned why the Arizona senator held the meeting late Wednesday night in Chicago. But supporters who were in the room denied that McCain held the closed-door session out of fear of offending conservatives, many of whom want him to take a harder line on immigration.

Both McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama support giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, but neither has made the issue a centerpiece of the campaign. At one time, McCain's campaign suffered because of his stance on the issue.

"This was not a secret meeting," said Rafael Rivadeneira, a vice chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois, who was among more than 150 Chicago-area Hispanic leaders who attended. "There was nothing he said that they wouldn't want people to hear."

Other attendees said they were not so sure.

"He's one John McCain in front of white Republicans. And he's a different John McCain in front of Hispanics," complained Rosanna Pulido, a Hispanic and conservative Republican who attended the meeting.

Pulido, who heads the Illinois Minuteman Project, which advocates for restrictive immigration laws, said she thought McCain was "pandering to the crowd" by emphasizing immigration reform in his 15-minute speech.

"He's having his private meetings to rally Hispanics and to tell them what they want to hear," she said. "I'm outraged that he would reach out to me as a Hispanic but not as a conservative."

After the event, McCain met privately with Martin Sandoval, an Illinois state senator and Democratic convention delegate for former candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sandoval said he left open the possibility of backing McCain, citing his immigration stance and pledge to keep business taxes low.

[AYFR]

He is not pandering, he has always tried for immigration reform AND that includes securing the borders.

[Yellowdogtexan]

He is not pandering, he has always tried for immigration reform AND that includes securing the borders.mc :cane is telling one thing to Hispanics and something very different to his base. I remember the debates where mc :cane in effect disavowed his prior immigration proposals and pandered to the base.

It will be curious to see if mc :cane can break 30% of the Hispanic vote. bush had over 40% which helped bush win some key states. The Hispanic vote will be a larger percentage of the vote this election and so will be even more important.

[AYFR]

:roll

[Yellowdogtexan]

mc :cane is still getting grief over his secret meeting with hispanics (the Democrats really love Trancedo). http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/more-grief-for.htmlSen. John McCain took some grief from the Left for keeping a tight handle on who he invited to his secret meeting with Hispanics in Chicago last week. And he took some grief from the Right for apparently promising at that meeting to pursue a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.

The grief from the Right continued today. Anti-amnesty crusader Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., wrote McCain a letter calling him out on the meeting, questioning McCain's commitment to pledges made earlier in the campaign, and snarkily invoking McCain's "Straight Talk" mantra.

Tancredo asks if promises made by McCain earlier in the presidential campaign to hold off on giving longtime illegal immigrants a "pathway to citizenship" until after the borders were secured were any more than lip service, and wonders whether the presumptive Republican nominee's candidacy is a Trojan horse for amnesty.

"Senator, given your past sponsorship of amnesty legislation, such statements raise troubling questions. Are you planning to break a promise you made in February to postpone all other immigration reform legislation until we have first secured our borders?" writes Tancredo, who goes on to ask McCain to use an upcoming speech to the pro-pathway to citizenship National Council of La Raza in San Diego to embrace a "security first" immigration approach.

"I challenge you to deliver a message to that assembly which does not pander to their amnesty agenda. You should speak to the La Raza convention and to all Hispanic audiences about America's need for secure borders as a priority above all other immigration reforms," Tancredo said.

McCain was a vocal proponent of the failed Senate attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform when Republicans controlled the body in 2006. He was a less visible proponent in 2007, when Democrats were in charge, though he voted again for a bipartisan, comprehensive approach to immigration in both years.
Again, mc :cane is flip floping and pandering to two groups who want different things.

[Saguaro]

If the meetings were so secret, how comes everyone knows about them?

[Yellowdogtexan]

If the meetings were so secret, how comes everyone knows about them?Because the mc :cane campaign invited a member of the minutemen to the hispanic meeting. Do we really trust mc :cane with keeping anything secret?