In special commentary for CNN today, Washington Post columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. spells out how McCain has shown more tolerance, intelligence and understanding on the immigration issue than Obama and other Democrats have.
Here's an excerpt and a link:
"McCain -- a Republican -- risked his political career to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, while Barack Obama -- a Democrat -- was late to the issue and made some bad choices once he stepped into the debate...
Congress is no longer under Republican control, and yet we're no closer to comprehensive immigration reform. That's because Democrats have, in the last two years, bungled immigration reform by undermining a guest worker program as a favor to organized labor, whose leaders continue to insist -- with a straight face -- that laid-off middle-aged factory workers would love to pick strawberries if only illegal immigrants weren't hogging the best jobs...
Democrats are lucky to have Republican boogeymen like Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-CO, who uses immigration to scare up votes and campaign cash. Tancredo isn't just anti-illegal immigrant. He's anti-immigrant.
Tancredo's least favorite Republican is -- guess who? -- John McCain. That's because the Arizona senator knows a nativist when he sees one and hasn't been shy about criticizing Tancredo and other members of his own party when necessary. He did just that in a recent telephone interview with me.
"Because of the kind of rhetoric that was used on this issue, there are many Latinos who believe that we are anti-them and not anti-illegal immigration," McCain said.
The Arizona senator told me about his visit to a small town in Iowa, where residents have recently experienced more illegal immigration from Mexico.
"There were a lot of elderly people there," McCain said, "and they seemed to be genuinely frightened. A woman said, 'This is terrible. I have to dial 1 for English. They're destroying our culture.' And I said, 'Ma'am, you know the greatness of America is that we've had wave after wave of new blood, new vitality...There is no reason for you to be frightened. And the people who are frightening you are not doing you anything but a grave disservice.' "
To read the whole excellent commentary, visit
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/29/navarrette.immigration/index.html?eref=rss_topstories