Posted on 04/04/2006 1:13:02 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain threatened on Tuesday to cut short a speech to union leaders who booed his immigration views and later challenged his statements on organized labor and the Iraq war.
"If you like, I will leave," McCain told the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department, pivoting briefly from the lectern. He returned to the microphone after the crowd quieted.
"OK, then please give me the courtesy I would give you."
It was a contentious session that tested McCain's commitment to the straight-talking image he honed during his failed 2000 presidential bid. An underdog six years ago, the Arizona Republican is expected to seek the 2008 GOP nomination as a front-runner.
"I loved it. I love mixing it up like that," McCain said after the speech to a Democratic-leaning crowd of several hundred.
He did seem to enjoy the back and forth that began minutes into his address, when he mentioned campaigning on behalf of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican. The crowd booed the reference to Schwarzenegger but laughed at McCain's self-effacing joke that followed.
He said somebody came up to him at the Schwarzenegger event and said, "Do people tell you look like John McCain?"
"Yes, they do."
"Doesn't that make you madder than hell?"
Later, the senator outlined his position on the Senate immigration debate, saying tougher border enforcement must be accompanied by guest-worker provisions that give illegal immigrants a legal path toward citizenship.
Murmurs from the crowd turned to booing. "Pay a decent wage!" one audience member shouted.
"I've heard that statement before," McCain said before threatening to leave.
Afterward, the senator said he offered to cut his speech short "because I wanted to be heard."
In the speech, McCain also argued that withdrawing U.S. troops prematurely from Iraq would turn terrorists loose on the United States.
This time, there was no booing - though one audience member cursed from the back of the crowd.
McCain got another laugh when he finished the speech and asked whether anybody had "questions, comments or insults."
The first questioner seemed to challenge his commitment to organized labor. When McCain started to praise a particular labor group in Arizona, the crowd booed again.
"Stop!" he said with a smile, drawing laughter from the crowd. "I surrender."
But he took more questions, including a pointed one on his immigration plan.
McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.
Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain's job offer.
"I'll take it!" one man shouted.
McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. "You can't do it, my friends."
Some in the crowd said they didn't appreciate McCain questioning their work ethic.
"I was impressed with his comedy routine and ability to tap dance without music. But I was impressed with nothing else about him," said John Wasniewski of Milwaukee. "He's supposed to be Mr. Straight Talk?"
Others said McCain showed some moxie, if not the best political judgment.
"Most of us don't agree with him on immigration, but I give him credit for trying," said Chris D. Schoenbeck of Milwaukee.
With his profile rising, a growing number of Democrats are accusing McCain of flip-flopping on issues to court conservative GOP primary voters.
McCain denied that charge later Tuesday - after addressing the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a GOP-leaning group that backs his immigration views. There were no boos. Just laughter, and at the end of his remarks, a standing ovation from the Hispanic leaders.
Yet McCain's mind was still on the labor activists and their prickly reception.
"I can't tell you how much fun that was," he said.
He is an entertaining candidate, in a watching-an-accident kind of way.
LOL!
"McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.
Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain's job offer.
"I'll take it!" one man shouted.
McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. "You can't do it, my friends.""
How DARE he tell American men they can't work as hard as a bunch of illegal aliens!!! This infuriates me! Maybe HE couldn't handle hard labor, but he's just an elite senator - not good for much but photo-ops and cocktail parties.
Construction workers work out in all elements - extreme heat, extreme cold, even bone-chilling rain, and he has the nerve to tell them they "can't do it". And all of the American construction workers I know do it for a whole lot less than his offered $50.00 per hour. My husband is a crane operator with 30 years of experience and doesn't even make $50.00 per hour! Hell, I hoed enough cantaloup and watermelon fields in the blazing Oklahoma sun when I was a kid and I managed to do it just fine - and believe me I wasn't making $50.00 per hour! They should have pelted him with rotten tomatoes. "Can't do it" my angry a**!
If this doesn't tell us what the political elite think of the American people, nothing will.
So who are they supporting the democrats amnesty party?
Those 17,000 undocumented (illegal) immigrants currently serving in the U.S, Military are earning their citizenship the hard way.
I rarely hear anything about them. That is so sad.
Last nail if confirmed, IMO.
How many native born Americans are also.
Great soundbites if anyone had a recorder going.
"How many native born Americans are also."
Too many. But that doesn't mean I like the numbers to be even more inflated with third world illegals.
Leave the Senate?! Please do.
"OK, then please give me the courtesy I would give you."
The courtesy of depressing their wages? The course of raising their taxes to pay for freebies for illegal aliens? The courtesy of allowing the invaders to steal their jobs? The courtesy of enabling this invasion that annually costs Americans more lives than 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the Iraq War put together? The courtesy to tell them to shut up and bend over and take it? I don't know how much more of John McCain's courtesy this country can stand!
Sweet Mary Joesph, please say that to us!
McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. "You can't do it, my friends."
Excuse me?? Is any other American insulted by this remark? WTF he is thinking is becoming as clear as mud.
McCain's got a weird brain, but the AP is also a miserable excuse for a news agency. Without the article interpolating what McCain meant by "You can't do it," wouldn't it be more reasonable to read McCain's reply to mean "You can't pick lettuce for $50/hour"? I'm not a fan of McCain's and disagree with him on immigration, but this could just be a case of lousy journalism (or, as other posters have suggested, a stab in McCain's back).
Ask these 7,500 GM union workers.
I know an OBLer when one posts to me.
The immigration issue may be a golden opportunity for the reps to get some unions on their side.
bttt
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