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What Are the Odds?

Ok, Obama fans, here's some McCain-panders-to-his-audience fodder for you.

The predictable lede [is] 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."

Whoops!

Which position is it? Amnesty or secure the borders? Stick with one or explain the very nuanced position you have that allows you to be for both.

I realize this is sort of a timeframe issue. Let's secure the borders first and *then* do amnesty. But by emphasizing each, individually, it can come off as two seperate panders.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on June 20, 2008 (boomark / email).