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Can you believe this guy?

MIAMI — GOP presidential contender John McCain on Monday challenged his campaign rivals in the party to either get behind the pending Senate immigration bill or come up with an alternative. The Arizona senator also accused fellow Republican candidates of "pandering for votes" by contesting the proposal. Although he didn't mention names, the charge was seen as a jab at his chief rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "There is one premise most of us agree on: The status quo is unacceptable," said McCain, speaking before the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce...

The U.S. government is on the verge of approving a mass amnesty to millions of illegal aliens -- a plan pushed aggressively by meddling Mexican officials who reap billions of dollars in remittances (illegal aliens' earnings sent back to Mexico) without having to lift a finger to clean up their own country. And the thanks we get? Internationally televised public humiliation. Monday night, the beautiful young woman who represented America in the Miss Universe pageant was booed and mocked as she competed in Mexico City. Rachel Smith, 22, did her best to respond with grace and dignity during the Top...

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is challenging critics of a proposed immigration overhaul plan to provide a better alternative. The Arizona senator criticized his leading rivals, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when a reporter asked him about their opposition to a Senate compromise brokered earlier this month. McCain says anyone who doesn't like the plan should offer their own idea. The plan before Congress includes tougher security, guest workers and a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. McCain says the US can't afford to continue to allow...

WASHINGTON: Having won his fight with congressional Democrats on an Iraq war spending bill, President George W. Bush is now waging an equally aggressive battle with Republican senators as he tries to persuade them to support an immigration bill that he hopes will be a signature domestic achievement. As the Senate debated the immigration measure, Bush spent the past week lobbying behind the scenes to build support for it. A dozen Republican senators, including some of the staunchest opponents of the bill, were summoned to Oval Office meetings to hear the president deliver an impassioned appeal for the legislation. In...

Some people just don't like Mexicans -- or anyone else from south of the border. They think Latinos are freeloaders and welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English. They think Latinos have too many babies, and that Latino kids will dumb down our schools. They think Latinos are dirty, diseased, indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. They think Latinos are just too different from us ever to become real Americans. No amount of hard, empirical evidence to the contrary, and no amount of reasoned argument or appeals to decency and fairness, will convince this small group of...

Initial public reaction to the immigration proposal being debated in the Senate is decidedly negative. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Monday and Tuesday night shows that just 26% of American voters favor passage of the legislation. Forty-eight percent (48%) are opposed while 26% are not sure. The bi-partisan agreement among influential Senators and the White House has been met with bi-partisan opposition among the public. The measure is opposed by 47% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats, and 46% of those not affiliated with either major party. The enforcement side of the debate is clearly where the public passion...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain came to the defense of one of his biggest allies Wednesday over the pending immigration vote in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has come under fire in the last week for his defense of an immigration compromise that provides amnesty for illegal aliens. It reached a peak when he was booed during the state Republican convention Saturday in Columbia. “I always think it is unfair when I hear Lindsey Graham is criticized,” McCain, R-Ariz., said during a conference call Wednesday. Graham has been an ardent campaigner for McCain in South Carolina –...

COLUMBIA, S.C. | Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday defended the immigration legislation winding its way through Congress, saying the measure is needed to protect the country from terrorism. "People who grew up in London, people who have spent most of their lives in the United States, have somehow become induced to be terrorists and that argues strongly for accounting for and bringing under control a situation where 12 million people are in our country illegally," the Arizona senator said during one of several conference calls with reporters from early voting states where he is vying for support. ---...

Senator's Support of Compromise Divides Republican BaseWASHINGTON -- Last year, in the midst of a heated re-election campaign, Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl hurled at his opponent a damaging accusation in the border state: He ran TV ads saying the Democrat supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. Now, as Mr. Kyl backs a bipartisan Senate immigration bill, he is hearing the same charge leveled at him by other Republicans in his state and on conservative blogs and radio shows. The debate between the conservative Mr. Kyl and his base is one of the most important battles determining the fate of...

Apparently, at an awards dinner sponsored by "La Raza", Lindsay Graham commented on the activists lining up against the immigration bill. He said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up..."

Republican party members are upset with the immigration reform plan negotiated by Senator Jon Kyl and supported by Senator John McCain. Party Chairman Randy Pullen says the bill is clearly a plan for amnesty. "My reading of the bill indicates it's still 90 percent what Ted Kennedy wants and maybe 10 percent what Republicans want." He's disappointed that the plan would allow all 12 million illegal immigrants to remain, whether they've been here a month or 10 years. "It clearly provides to all those that are here they ability to stay in this country permanently, but not only that but...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Sen. Mel Martinez rejected the claim that the new immigration bill will anger conservatives and destroy the GOP's chances to win in the 2008 election.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hasn't spent much time in the Capitol this year as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination. But one of his rare appearances this week provided a pretty salty exchange with a fellow Republican. During a meeting Thursday on immigration legislation, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) got into a shouting match when Cornyn started voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, according to multiple sources -- both Democrats and Republicans -- who heard firsthand accounts of the exchange from lawmakers who were in the room. At a bipartisan gathering in...

The crowd at South Carolina's Republican convention cheered Saturday when Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed a key ally of U.S. Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) when he defended it. ADVERTISEMENT The immigration compromise between key senators and the White House played strongly at the convention as more than 1,000 delegates and Republican activists gathered. Many in the crowd wore stickers with "Senate amnesty bill" crossed out. They cheered as presidential candidate Romney told them: "One simple rule: No amnesty." During his speech and before his remarks, Romney said a proposed new visa...

Associated Press Attendees at S.C. convention vocal over Romney’s, Graham’s stances The crowd at South Carolina’s Republican convention cheered Saturday when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed U.S. Sen Lindsey Graham when he defended it. The immigration compromise between key senators and the White House was in the forefront at the convention as more than 1,000 delegates and Republican activists gathered. Many in the crowd wore stickers with “Senate amnesty bill” crossed out. They cheered as presidential candidate Romney told them: “One simple rule: No amnesty.” During his speech and before his remarks, Romney...

The crowd booed South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key ally of McCain in both his 2000 and 2008 presidential bids, when he said he had worked with U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., on the immigration legislation. "It's the best bill I think we can get to President Bush," Graham said as some in the crowd shouted "No!" Graham was cheered earlier in his speech when he talked about the war in Iraq. After the speech, Graham said he was booed on immigration because "it's an emotional topic. People are mad." South Carolina's other U.S. senator, Jim DeMint, is...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The crowd at South Carolina's Republican convention cheered Saturday when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed a key ally of U.S. Sen. John McCain when he defended it. The immigration compromise between key senators and the White House played strongly at the convention as more than 1,000 delegates and Republican activists gathered. Many in the crowd wore stickers with "Senate amnesty bill" crossed out. [Snip] The crowd booed South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key ally of McCain in both his 2000 and 2008 presidential bids, when he said he...