McCain ad: “God’s Children”
posted at 9:15 am on July 11, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Team McCain has its latest ad out today, taken from a New Hampshire debate in June 2007, when John McCain soliloquized on the contributions of Hispanic citizens and residents to our efforts in Vietnam and Iraq. Titled “God’s Children”, the ad matches imagery to McCain’s impromptu salute:
My friends, I want you the next time you’re down in Washington, D.C., to go to the Vietnam War Memorial and look at the names engraved in black granite. You’ll find a whole lot of Hispanic names.
When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you’re going to see a whole lot of people who are of Hispanic background. You’re even going to meet some of the few thousand that are still green card holders who are not even citizens of this country, who love this country so much that they’re willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship and enjoy the bountiful, blessed nation.
So let’s from time to time remember that these are God’s children. They must come into country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them.
Thank you.
About the best that can be said for this clip is that it was much more effective in context than it is here. During the debate, the other candidates had described illegal immigrants as not much more than a plague upon the land. This response came spontaneously from McCain, defending the contributions of Hispanics in the US as a reminder to Republicans to keep the rhetoric from getting overheated.
Now, though, this ad sounds like a non-sequitur. He and Barack Obama are close in policy on immigration, to the point where conservatives have resigned themselves not to bring it up if McCain won’t. Unfortunately, this sounds now like a deliberate provocation to the Right, who in fairness have never — never — discounted the contributions of Hispanic citizens and legal residents, especially not their long history of service to this nation. The issue is illegal immigration and border security, not whether we know that Americans of Hispanic descent have risked and given their lives for us.
This is a monumentally stupid ad. It spends a full minute saying nothing about the issue it supposedly addresses, and it insults the intelligence of the people whom McCain is trying to woo. And I’m someone who has a little more sympathy for McCain’s efforts on immigration than most on the Right. Take two big steps backward, Senator McCain.
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Shades of Malthaus. We aren’t anywhere near that point, if that point exists at all. And when it does, off to space we go.
Man, and I thought I was a pessimist.
(btw, the problem is not enough population, not too much.)
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:35 AM
The message is: “Fellow Americans, an America without legions of illegals is not worth having.” For some reason McCain is incapable of attributing illegality to illegal activity, so he deflects by looking at the names of men he served with? This from a guy who I’m sure is against profiling (anyone got anything on that?). He’s been drinking his own sanctimonious kool-aid for so long, he simply cannot see the poison he’s feeding the rest of us. Here we have a nominee who is so busy pandering to racist groups like LULAC and The Race that he can’t see Obama passing him in the RIGHT lane. It’s truly hopeless with McCain. He’s the guy who’s so busy fixing his handkerchief and waxing his moustache that he never makes it to the duel!
Western_Civ on July 11, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Please tell me where in this ad McCain talks about welcoming illegal immigrants?
rockmom on July 11, 2008 at 10:36 AM
I know.
I don’t.
Polling’s screwy this year. What I do know is that I’ve worked with a lot of Hispanics in my lifetime, and I just don’t see them as buying what Barry’s selling. Polls or no polls.
Typhoon on July 11, 2008 at 10:37 AM
We aren’t? What proof do you have of that? I posted earlier a couple of concrete examples of dwindling resources, but with a rapidly expanding thread like this it can get lost, so here they are again.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Seriously, you can argue that it’s all self-regulating. The Europeans got themselves into the same pickle, so they import their young workers from Muslim lands.
The Japanese are ahead of us in the problem, they import no one, their pop. shrinks. My guess is robots for them, or annihilation.
We import our young workers from adjacent Spanish speaking Christian lands. If we hadn’t been so criminally negligent about how we did it, it would have been a win-win all around. I’m hoping it still turns out that way.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM
The point of the ad is to pander to Hispanics, in that regard it is successful.
koolbrease on July 11, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Oh, and I don’t know where you get Obama passing McCain on the right on this issue. Just yesterday Obama once again claimed to a Hispanic voter that McCain abandoned his stance on immigration reform when he decided to run for president, in order to appease the (racist) base of the Republican Party. He’s trying to out-pander McCain with Hispanics because he knows they have a problem with him.
rockmom on July 11, 2008 at 10:40 AM
The response are telling. I think this is a bad ad, because it makes its point at the end, long after most of the “conservatives” (at least the ones who post here) have tuned out:
MrScribbler on July 11, 2008 at 10:40 AM
*Chuckling*
Y’know, I was kind of wondering that very thing. I was also kind of wondering–since the ad explicitly says “they have to come here legally” if the vitriolic reaction here doesn’t unfortunately advance the claim that the issue isn’t so much status but ethnicity.
Typhoon on July 11, 2008 at 10:40 AM
His comments are a direct response to others speaking about illegal immigration.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Then people will discover new ways to get water (desalination, for ex.) People will move to areas with more water. People will pay much more for water. People will melt the polar ice caps on Mars.
Earth’s pop. has probably peaked. Fertility rates falling dramatically in the third world.
As with global warming, the real thing to think about is global cooling. Here, pop. growth is not the problem, population fall is.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:42 AM
I’d really like McCain to explain which human beings on this planet do NOT qualify as “God’s children” — or does he seriously believe that every foreigner on the planet has the right to set up residence and take a job in the United States?
The fact is, a very large percentage of the illegal aliens in this country are Mexico’s children — and Mexico, a country rich in natural resources like oil and gold — has absolutely no incentive to provide better lives for its children as long as it can continue to dump the poorest of them onto the backs of the American taxpayer.
AZCoyote on July 11, 2008 at 10:42 AM
…
wow. This is pathetic.
Grafted on July 11, 2008 at 10:43 AM
I know a lot of you beleive that the War is number two, right after the economy…
But I think that illegal immigration is a systemic threat to our way of life.
Take a good look at Los Angelas. Its now a way different city than I remember as a child… Central California where I grew up? I don’t hardly recognize… I don’t even feel safe going for a run at my Mom’s house there anymore…
This problem, and its costs, and the crime it brings us, affects every man woman and child in America…
We’ve lost more Americans to MURDER by illegals than we’ve lost in the War, including 9/11… but its not as sensational… it doesn’t happen all at once so its off most people radars, until it personaly affects them.
WOT is an external threat… Illegal immigration is an internal threat. External is easier to fight than internal.
Way I vote? My issues?
Right now?
ENERGY POLICY
Economic Policy
Border Security
WOT (because if we had real border security, they couldn’t get in to kill us in the first place…).
But that just my opinion… others have different priorities… I just think there may be a lot more folks out there who think like I do than some realize.
Romeo13 on July 11, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Agreed…polling certainly has been “screwy” since the beginning of the primaries. Even now, the major polls are all over the place with Obama v. McCain. But one thing, they all say that Obama has the majority of Hispanic support.
I too have worked with many hispanics…and also agree that they would be more likely to support McCain than Obama.
But the polls, man…the polls…
I disagree. The point of the ad is to be clear on Hispanic contributions to the US, and that we need to approach immigration reform in a humane and dignified way. This ad seems to be more aimed at the anti-amnesty crowd.
JetBoy on July 11, 2008 at 10:46 AM
I was starting to consider holding my nose and voting for McCain. But until he extols the contributions of Swedish-Americans and declares publicly that we are children of God, I will go back to my earlier understanding that we are just not his kind of people. I won’t embarrass the pandering demagogue with my vote.
snaggletoothie on July 11, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Only in their minds.
Obama is the most liberal senator. McCain is far from being a conservative. People seem to enjoy digesting a daily dose of anti-McCain news and opinion over the last 6 months practically non stop, and this has clouded their judgment.
McCain says stupid things, and at the end of the day, he is a much better choice for conservatives(and this nation) than Obama will ever be. The democrats, who were once reeling with their own ‘operation chaos’ as Obama and Hillary were tearing the democrat party apart, are now observing with glee at out own ‘operation chaos’ where very strong conservatives are proudly proclaiming that they will never vote for McCain over people who attempt to put things into context that this is a battle between McCain and Obama. The person who gets the most votes gets that state’s electoral votes, and then the winner will become president.
When we fight, they - the democrats, win.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 10:47 AM
For labor purposes or reproduction? Anchor babies are the answer to Social Security mismanagement? Agriculture isn’t the only segment enjoying the benefits of cheap, nonAmerican labor. Meatpacking and construction aren’t seasonal. Google up Marshalltown, Iowa’s social issues since their meatpacker decided to cater to illegals. BTW, the industry HR guy and some others have been arrested for “helping” illegal employees with their paperwork. It isn’t an isolated case.
a capella on July 11, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Obama himself led the charge in the Senate to make sure that McCain was qualified. To me, this NYT story says “don’t make waves about Obama’s birth certificate, because we can still come after you too.”
(No one I know takes this issue seriously. I’ve been told by people whose opinion I respect that it’s a non-issue. I am concerned about being labeled a loon because of my interest in it, but something doesn’t sit right with me about the whole thing.)
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:48 AM
No it doesn’t, but that is how Hispanic activists frame it. That is also what was implied by Republicans who supported shamnesty.
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Let’s try this, one more time….
McCain: Pandering to Hispanics for votes.
Obama: Pandering to those who think cow-farts are endangering the planet.
tough choice
franksalterego on July 11, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Has this really been Senator McCain’s week for full disclosure… I still have some questions.
Has he ever considered only speaking in closely orchestrated, restricted gatherings like Dubyah does?
The “Straight Talk Express” may have worked to his advantage back in 2000. This is 2008, eight years is a long time in a olde sailor’s life, he was 63 then, he is now goin’ on 72…!
He continues to discount women’s health issues.
His own account of his divorce. contradicts court records.
Can he continue to diss fifty plus percent of voters and still court electoral success?
Then there is this synopsis of other shenanigans that have promulgated his week of truthiness.
“…[Is] This is the week that should have effectively ended John McCain’s efforts to become the next president of the United States.”
J_Gocht on July 11, 2008 at 10:51 AM
No, the problem with the ad is that it presumes the issue is ethnicity when the issue is status. Otherwise there would be no need to play identity politics. I mean, what about all the other people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If I remember correctly, back during the “comprehensive immigration reform” brouhaha, the argument for the bill turned rather quickly from being primarily an economic one into a racial one. That is, when they couldn’t convince people that the bill was good based on economic reason, they began calling them racists and bigots.
BigD on July 11, 2008 at 10:51 AM
McCain’s an older guy from a different generation. He assumes whites are children of god, and assumes that whites need to be reminded that others are as well.
He disrespects you, and Hispanics with the style of his comment. To use a discredited word, it was “inartful.”
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Great!!! McCain has yet again reached across the aisle, this time to borrow the “What would Jesus do?” painting rhetoric from the Dems in order to cow the public into supporting his “The law is what I change it to” and “Special privileges for some” way of governing.
Dusty on July 11, 2008 at 10:52 AM
For most commenters here today, this isn’t a deciding factor about whether to vote for McCain or not. This is about McCain voters trying to make their President find the right tone and language and policy for the important issues he will face. That’s fair and right to do.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 10:54 AM
We all love his heroism commerials. this ad just gives a shot out to the brave hispanics who have fought in America’s Wars.
nothing to see here, move on.
Vincenzo on July 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
I’m with you. McCain’s birth should have been a non-issue and there is a reason Obama supported that resolution. But let’s save that discussion for another thread.
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
The data I was able to find on world population growth was several years old for most nations but while it did show a slowing in population growth for “Western nations”, and the advanced or developing nations of Asia, it also showed strong population growth in Africa, and the middle east. As the Muslim religion spreads this tendency toward higher population may spread with it. Islam promotes reproduction rates. There is no guarantee that rates from that part of the world will drop, and as the religion spreads population growth may spread with it. It’s an unknown, and not a given that world rates will drop.
You also mentioned methods to produce water like desalination, but as I mentioned that drives up the cost, and thus reduces your standard of living, which supports my argument. You also mentioned space travel, which isn’t technologically available until some unknown point in the future.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Oh, come on! He knows what he’s doing. Legals are God’s children, but illegals are not? lol.
a capella on July 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Well obviously not all at once but something needs to be done. SS was not meant to support a middle-class person for 20-30 years it was a safety net that most people never got to even use.
As for reproducing. I’m doing my part. Have 2 kids and trying for a 3rd and I’m over 40! It ain’t easy running around after a 3yr old and a 10mo old when you’re kinda fat and, um, not so young.
mrsmwp on July 11, 2008 at 10:58 AM
I have no idea.
Either dropping those programs, or bringing new ones that will encourage reproduction. Lowering taxes could help. If I was able take home a little more each week, having children might look a little more attractive.
Don’t know if I could have 11 though.
Even though McCain’s been pandering to them from day one. Maybe, assuming your stat is correct, they don’t like being pandered to as Hispanics first and Americans second.
Just a thought.
It’s not a joke. Obama wants to raise taxes; McCain claims he won’t but doesn’t really have the history to back that up.
McCain wants amnesty; Obama wants amnesty. At least only one paints the opposition as racist.
McCain wants to maintain stability in Iraq; Obama wants the same.
McCain is against drilling; Obama is against drilling.
Yes, there are differences between the two, but I’m becoming convinced daily that Obama will govern no worse than McCain.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 10:59 AM
China and India have falling fertility rates. I never said increased people would mean they could all live in S. California. Georgia/Tenn. are not typical dry places, and can solve their problem with better water management and storage. Space travel is for the future. That’s why man doesn’t have to stop reproducing. Too many people will actually spur on the inventions needed to accomodate too many people. In spite of all this, our problem will not be too little people, but too few to sustain the standard of living of the elderly. We can temporarily ameliorate that problem here in the same way they do it in Europe, import bodies.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Hows that working out for Europe?
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Sorry, forgot to respond to your Islam comments:
Fundamental Islam fails in all countries that have it.(unless it has some ace-in-the-hole like oil, and even then, that’s temporary.) It survives by expansion. When it becomes dominant, it has to move on. It destroys the modernity of the societies it inhabits.
And it’s true, there can be high fertility in Islam, because there are no rising living standards.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:05 AM
I already commented about that. But we could make immigration to the US work if we regulated it. Our poor neighbors to the south are not Islamic.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Which doesn’t look good for technological advances to handle the population increases that you mention like space travel.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 11:07 AM
When I lived in Holbrook, AZ way back in 8th grade in 1980 my very fisrt girlfriend was a Mexican-American girl. Her name was Nancy and she only spoke English. As did all the MA kids at school. The school was majority Hispanic and there was little if any ethnic groupings. We all mingled together.
That was then. Now, we assume anyone that looks Hispanic can’t speak English, and that seems to be true here in Little Rock. The last 20 years has given rise to vocal and powerful Hispanic ethnic groups whose main goal seems to be preventing assimilation.
My best friend when I was in college was of Puerto Rican decent. Again, he couldn’t speak a word of Spanish.
Today I support the stepped up activity of ICE and want to make ALL illegals go home. They are a threat to our culture, our economy, and our free republic.
Any immigrant population can be assimilated given enough time and small numbers. We are simply being overwhelmed.
All McCain has to do is look to Europe to see where we’re headed. The only advantage we have is that our immigrants aren’t Muslims.
DerKrieger on July 11, 2008 at 11:09 AM
makes the most sense of all. McCain wants to break the back of conservative influence in the GOP. He’s in a good position to try it with Obama as his opponent, thus removing the threat of a protest backlash. This isn’t just about illegal immigration.
a capella on July 11, 2008 at 11:10 AM
First smart thing you’ve said. Probably why we shouldn’t have nominated the guy that spent 8 years screwing his party every chance he got. Keep that in mind if he does lose. It was a stupid choice.
I’m a bit tired of the ‘if you’re against immigration reform, you’re a bigot’ bullsh*t.
The only reform we need is to actually enforce the laws we have. This isn’t about humanitarianism; this is a vote grab. People are outraged about this issue from a variety of angles. As a child of legal immigrants, I’m outraged that people who broke the law to come here are being so shamelessly pandered to. My dad and mom had to bust their a**es to become citizens. My ex-girlfriend was busting her a** to get citizenship. McCain and his other dirtbag buddies in Congress want instant lower class voters to pad out the rolls. That’s what this is about. Anyone who has ever had the government land on them about taxes, or any type of law breaking, get really p*ssed off seeing lawbreakers buttkissed like we’re seeing with the illegal immigrants.
There is plenty that can be done on this issue to halt the flow of illegal immigration and show that the government is serious about solving the problem. But that never gets talked about. It all comes down to awarding status first and that is where all the cynicism and anger from people come in. Nobody believes the government on enforcement any more; and with good reason. Couch it in all the goo goo ga ga ‘we’re just honoring their contribution’ language you want, all it is about is creating a dependent voter bloc…and what McCAin and the other have apparently concluded from whatever numbers they are looking at, it is worth losing whatever percentage of border enforcement enthusiasts in order to make whatever gain among the newly legal border scofflaws. Your government, ladies and gents.
austinnelly on July 11, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Ask yourselves this question. What if McCain when he said this in a town hall meeting was speaking from his heart? When he speaks about issues like this I feel he is coming from his heart. What if he is? What does this mean to you internally if he is speaking from his heart? I think it is spot on.
I have several friends, my Dad, uncle, and both my grandfathers who have served in war. One thread I notice they are all connected by is they simply do not feel most people can understand or appreciate what they have done, are doing, and will do for all of us in the future.
Reminding Americans of the sacrifice our troops make for us is something that is not talked enough about.
My friend who was blown up in Iraq in 2005, lost one eye, and spent a year and a half in Walter Reed Medical Center recovering and never gets the praise and gratitude he really deserves. They all say people just have no idea what they go thru for us. That is a crime in my opinion.
Service to one’s country is something very near and dear to McCain’s heart. On this issue he totally comes from his heart and I agree with him.
Most Americans because of the brainwashing and disinformation of politicians and the msm do not have any concept of the sacrifice our troops make for us.
Ed, I am sorry but I totally disagree with your assessment of this ad. When obama refers to our troops saying he supports them he is simply giving lip service to something that he does not feel nor can he relate to its meaning.
That is why he is not deserving of the Presidency and why he will never win come November.
Corey Wayne on July 11, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Ed wrote it out right above. We all read it. You don’t have some “special insight.”
The point of the ad though is to lump those of us against amnesty with those who are against all immigration. That’s what’s pissing everyone off.
Exactly. It’s aimed at telling us not to be afraid of “brown people” as though that’s the only reason people oppose amnesty.
Exactly. That’s what McCain is continuing to do here, trying to “tell the bigots to shut up.”
And yet people here wonder why anyone would be upset.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Yeah, it’s obvious you and many others place illegal immigration above winning the war.
Sekhmet on July 11, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Somehow you must have gotten the idea that I think Muslim immigrants would be good for the US, or that we would look to Europe to save us. I never said or implied either.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Hey, as someone who is both Latino and the son of a woman who entered this country illegally (don’t worry guys, she’s legal now), I think this ad is very effective. While it’s not addressing the issue, he does say that Latinos must enter legally AND he treats us with respect and not like some political football being punted around.
jtorres138 on July 11, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Yell at him Esthier–every day of his Presidency if necessary. I think the days of leaving the running of the gov’t to the professional politicians is long over. We may not issue pamphlets or race from town to town on ponies, but we must be active now.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Well now. Here I was thinking that McCain was actually doing what he believes is right, even if it offends people in the republican party that are the most conservative. But no, what McCain actually wants to do is ‘to break the back of conservative influence in the GOP.’
So in your opinion, why does McCain want to ‘break the back of conservative influence’? Is it because he is actually a democrat in disguise? Is it because he is senile and just forgot who was on what side of the issues? Maybe he’s in a secret pact with Alex Jones and Dennis Kucinich to destroy the GOP from within.
Me, I’ll go right on with the opinion that he’s not doing this, but he just does and says things that he believes in.
After all, McCain said he would “rather lose an election than lose a war,” and that sounds to me like he is doing and saying the things he actually believes in.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Beautiful… and depressingly accurate.
I completely agree; however, ALL the troops sacrifice for us, not just Hispanics.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:19 AM
I didn’t take it that way. I don’t think that importation of bodies is the answer to the problems that you have illustrated. I think it’s heading in the wrong direction. Connie mentioned the robotic research taking place in Asia, and I think that is the correct answer.
We have the same problem Japan has, but not as severe, a aging population. Japan has chosen automation, while we have chosen immigration. Japan will succeed, and when their success happens it will be adopted here. We will be stuck with hundreds of millions of unneeded low skill laborers, and if you think the social problems we have now are an issue, just wait till that happens.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Perhaps he is doing both…
Darksean on July 11, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Funny you should reference that quote of his. At one point, before the surge, the only people who were still supportive of the war effort outside of the administration was McCain, and the conservative base.
But he thumbed his nose at the base anyway, which risked his chances of winning the primaries and election, and risked his chance being the one in power to continue winning the war.
I’ve often thought that in this instance, what he said, and what he did, were opposite. I bet he’s a very good poker player.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:23 AM
I have made many more smart comments in addition to that one, thanks.
And the republicans who voted for McCain are to blame for McCain winning the republican primaries. I voted for someone else, but this was when McCain already had the momentum by the time it came to my state. I’d like to see the nominating process changed, because my vote was ’stolen’ or at least other votes were so far ahead of me, that my vote didn’t have a change to make a difference.
But as you know, you get no do-overs, and this is down to two people. McCain and Obama. Many people have said that they will not vote for the lesser of two evils. If you do not, then you are guaranteed to get the greater of two evils, because the people voting for Obama won’t stay home on election day.
It’s as simple as that.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:23 AM
In other words, he’s a liberal bigot. And if he thinks that white people are “children of god” he has a funny way of showing it.
Honestly, hands up all the people here who think that McCains’s stance on immigration is driven by his deep Christian conviction. Anyone?
The man’s a corporate whore.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Let me guess the rest of the story- you’re the anchor baby that got you mom her green card and all the social services she needed at the expense of legitimate tax paying citizens.
Bragging that your mom got one over on the system is not the best way to convice Americans that amnesty should be handed out on the no-questions-asked basis of McCain and Kennedy.
highhopes on July 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM
They weren’t Republicans.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM
It probably won’t be all one or the other. (But it does sound like you’ve joined me in recognizing that pop. loss is the greater problem.)
Isaac Asimov wrote lots of great books about future worlds–some which rely on machines, some on people. His whole Robots series (4 books) were always one of my favorites.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Vote Obama: We’re screwed anyways. May as well get to blame it on the other party for a change.
lorien1973 on July 11, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Could you please post a link to a factual document on the internet that backs up your opinion? So I can see for myself?
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:26 AM
I don’t doubt that for a moment.
I’m completely convinced that he really believes white, anti-amnesty voters need to be reminded that Hispanics are God’s children.
And it’s obvious that you and many others don’t see the connections between our national security and illegal immigration.
Do you sincerely believe it’ll make a difference? Haven’t we yelled at him already to no avail? It didn’t stop his vote last year.
I’d like to believe he’d care about complaints from citizens. I just don’t see how.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Based on his words and actions over the last several years, it seems highly probable that breaking the back of conservative influence IS what he believes is right.
Those dangerous nuts who believe in limited and representative government must be stamped out!
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:28 AM
You’re talking about the man I intend to
marryvote for.JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Not above… but ANY President is going to respond to an external threat.
I’ll tell ya what. When they spend 1/10 of the amount of money on border security, as they do the war, I’ll change my priroites…
WOT is being fought as a WAR… border security, even though it is a direct security threat to the US, is not.
Romeo13 on July 11, 2008 at 11:28 AM
No. I agree with you that we have an aging population, and that social services will be required to ramp up to handle the temporary load. I think it will be very damaging to this country in many different ways to drive our population over the 500 million mark.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 11:29 AM
The ONLY thing I want to hear from J. McCain at this point is:
I WILL GIVE ANWAR BACK TO ALASKA AND LET THE STATE OF ALASKA DETERMINE WHAT TO DO WITH IT.
stenwin77 on July 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM
I don’t know. But that is the course I’ve decided to take. We have a “disloyal” opposition in this country called the Democrats. I intend to be part of the “loyal” opposition.
JiangxiDad on July 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM
I’m completely convinced that McCains sudden and singular obsession with God is pure theater. It’s a way of selling his corporatist agenda to the rubes.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM
He’s either being sarcastic or referring to all the Independents who came into our primary system.
You don’t always have to ask for proof for every statement made.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:31 AM
No, we have a disloyal opposition in the country called the globalists, and they run both parties.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:31 AM
I speak German (learned at University), and work in a call center. I am on a list of foreign-language speakers, and see the requests that come through for support in a foreign language.
Half the time, it is some person of Hispanic descent asking for a Spanish speaker. Hispanics do assimilate. The Spanish speakers want to assimilate. Badly. They go to people like my mother (before she retired) to learn English and work on their citizenship tests. Your anti-assimilation types are English-speaking native-born Marxist suburban babies who think they identify with the working class.
One of the reasons polls of Hispanics in 2004 severely underestimated Republican support is because the polls were in English.
Sekhmet on July 11, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Speaking as a friend, break off the engagement.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:33 AM
I completely understand but remain undecided.
I really don’t want to cast my vote for someone I don’t want as president.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Well, we know he believes in McCain/Feingold and McCain/Kennedy. You’re probably right. He’s just doing stuff he believes in.
a capella on July 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM
oy
Squid Shark on July 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM
If he said something like “I think some democrats may have crossed over to help push him over the edge in addition to the republicans who voted for him”(opinion) instead of “They weren’t Republicans.”(statement of fact) then I wouldn’t have had a problem with it.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Speak for yourself. I get the opposite impression, and I’m one for whom this issue is the deciding factor on whether to vote for McCain.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Then you will get the person you really don’t want to be president.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Are you really trying to claim that the 2004 polls underestimated Hispanic support for the Republican Party?
Desperation has funny effects on people.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:38 AM
True. Unfortunately, they are exceedingly loud and the young are listening to them.
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 11:38 AM
If you have your way, sure.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:39 AM
Isn’t McCain addressing La Raza tomorrow? I notice that the “Gods Children” ad isn’t on his website and there is nothing on his calendar referring to La Raza.
ctmom on July 11, 2008 at 11:39 AM
And ‘your way’ is Obama.
No thank you.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:40 AM
That’s true either way.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:40 AM
You’re overlooking the subtext…Which is, of course, a slam against McCain.
So, let’s get back to the overriding issue…Who will be the next president?
If gov’t were a business, for which we can thank the Lord it’s not…
Elevating Obama to The Chief Executive Office, would be akin to elevating the janitor to CEO.
At the very least, McCain is Middle Management.
franksalterego on July 11, 2008 at 11:41 AM
This add would be most effective in Spanish!
This was, I believe, an attempt to take the middle from Obama. It sends two messages:
To hispanics and liberals: “I’m on your side.”
To conservatives: “Where else are you going to go?”
Conservatives will answer in November. If he keeps this up the answer will be “Away.” The Republican conservative base will simply go away (stay home) in the fall.
The Rock on July 11, 2008 at 11:42 AM
I don’t understand why half of the calls to your call center being Hispanics who don’t or won’t speak English is indicative of their desire to assimilate.
My own observation is that a lot of them won’t speak it even when they can.
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:42 AM
That’s not really a ringing endorsement.
Esthier on July 11, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Esthier if you really think that Obama and McCain will be exactly the same then your opinion is severely flawed and without merit.
Obama: Most Liberal Senator In 2007
McCain: ACU releases 2007 ratings: McCain gets a B
Esthier: That’s true either way.
wise_man on July 11, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I thought it was either the 17th or 19th. He doesn’t dare cancel it now. This recent ad was the lead in, as an attempt to soften the backlash. He better be sure of what he’s doing. He’s blowing off a big portion of the conservative base by making the issue one of race rather than law.
a capella on July 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM
It may be true, but a vote for Obama is a vote for the politics of those like John Kerry, whose allegiance is to the international community and not to America.
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Two minutes! I was wondering how long it was going to take for somebody to suggest that you HAD to vote for McCain for no other reason than he isn’t Obama and it only took two minutes for somebody to chime in.
Frankly, I’m up in the air wheter I can vote this time around. I know I won’t vote for Obama but I’d feel downright filthy if I went in and voted for McCain- a man who I don’t respect when it comes to his values and positions.
highhopes on July 11, 2008 at 11:47 AM
All the supporters of unlimited legal immigration can you tell me what the upper limit to U.S. population should be?
How do you plan to supple the resources needed to maintain these people and supply them with the standard of living that has come to be expected by U.S. citizens? What will happen when the level of automation this is coming, and it is coming, will render most unskilled labor unneeded? What will we do with 100s of millions of people that demand much and supply little? Why not avoid all that turmoil by stabilizing our population.
DFCtomm on July 11, 2008 at 11:48 AM
And a vote for McCain is virtually the same thing as a vote for Obama. There is no way to get around that fact.
highhopes on July 11, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Actually, it’s more like Obama is the good-looking son of a senior executive who gets hired in and then promoted every two years so that there is no possible record of failure.
McCain is the ornery geek who peaks out at the senior professional level with some obscure talent and spends the rest of his career complaining about all the idiots that keep getting promoted into management. He keeps thinking he could run the place; everyone else wonders how he got hired in in the first place.
BigD on July 11, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Instead of “saving” SS or Medicare/Medicaid, how about fixing the damn programs now, so there is no need to “save” them to begin with?
Your argument is probably the stupidest justification for legalizing law breakers that I have ever heard.
Why don’t we just empty all the prisons to “save” SS? Think of all the additional taxes we could get from those millions of “people” too?
Sounds stupid doesn’t it?
catmman on July 11, 2008 at 11:50 AM
JiangxiDad
What specifically do we need immigrants for? And “high enough rate” for what?
I’d love to see you explain the basis for claiming that we have a problem of not enough people. That being the case maybe you can tell me how many would be enough. One billion? Ten? Fifty?
flenser on July 11, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Well, let me point out,
that a business, many times, selects Directors from Middle Management.
A clerk, or janitor never gets hop-scotched to the top.
franksalterego on July 11, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Are you talking to me? I certainly don’t support unlimited illegal immigration. In fact, I would like to curtail it severely.
Connie on July 11, 2008 at 11:53 AM
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