John McCain told a crowd in Iowa that over his position on immigration reform.
“It is unbelievable how this has inflamed the passions of the American people,” the Arizona senator said in remarks at the Aspen Institute, a public policy forum. In an interview, he declined to elaborate on the threats he had received.
Still, McCain said, he continued to support a temporary worker program for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Derided by critics as amnesty, the program was one of the most controversial elements of the failed immigration bill supported by President Bush and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate.
McCain acknowledged that the immigration issue, along with his support for the war in Iraq, had cost him politically.
“Look, I’ve got to do what I know is right for this country. These issues I have to take head-on,” he said.
Like him or not, I can’t think of a time I saw McCain switch his position on an issue because it was politically beneficial. He sticks to his guns.
Related posts:
- Huckabee on Immigration: “If it costs me the election, it costs me the election”
- McCain Back to Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Losing More Conservative Support Daily
- Has Illegal Immigration Sealed the 2008 Election?
- McCain Promises Comprehensive Immigration Reform After Borders Are Secure
- McCain Continues to Lean Left, Attacks Base on Immigration
