Posted on 09/16/2008 8:15:53 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
MISSION - Hidalgo County Republican Party Chairman Hollis Rutledge says he is confident that John McCain and John Cornyn will patch up any differences they still have over immigration policy, should McCain be elected president. In May 2007, the two U.S. senators famously got into a shouting match over the finer points of a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill. The Washington Post reported at the time that McCain swore at Cornyn, accusing the Texas Republican of trying to “blow up” a pact between Republicans and Democrats.
Cornyn countered that the Arizona Republican was trying to “parachute” in on delicate Senate negotiations after being absent for much of the year on the presidential campaign trail.
“I am sure that John McCain and John Cornyn can put their past differences over immigration aside,’ Rutledge told the Guardian. “In fact, I am confident they can work well together on the issue because John McCain supports a guest worker program and so does Senator Cornyn...”
The Post reported that the spat started when Cornyn began voicing concerns over the number of judicial appeals undocumented immigrants could make. Senators were negotiating the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was a compromise piece of legislation that incorporated aspects of the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act proposed by McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass....
“After McCain swore at Cornyn and accused him of trying to blow up the pact, Cornyn accused the presidential candidate of ‘parachuting’ into the negotiations at the last minute,” the Post reported, on May 19, 2007...
Eventually, the bill died, much to the disappointment of President Bush and Cabinet members like Carlos Gutierrez.
The Texas Border Coalition, an advocacy group representing cities and counties from El Paso to Brownsville, came down on McCain’s side. The group praised the senator for a visit he made to Laredo to talk about border security and immigration reform with border leaders.
“Senator McCain has been a leader on this subject, having introduced the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill last session,” said TBC Chairman and Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster. Rutledge told the Guardian that he backed McCain’s immigration reform plan also.
“I think that when he becomes president, John McCain will finish off what President Ronald Reagan started, which was a guest worker program,” Rutledge said. “If we had a properly functioning guest worker program...we face at the border, the drug cartels. We need to be able to connect willing workers with willing employers...."
Rutledge said his comments should not be viewed as a criticism of Cornyn.
Cornyn has already endorsed McCain, did so before the Texas primary.
Maybe Cornyn will get Palin on his side and together they will “educate” McCain.
Party over Principle
McCain told the crowd that once he is in office, a comprehensive immigration policy would be one of his first priorities.
Which means: "Screw you, my friends! I'm bravely surrendering to Mexico!"
If Osama bin Laden had been smart, he would have sent over millions of covert Islamo-fascist terrorists into the underground economy and undermined America by stealth...exactly as Mexico is doing.
There must be something in the water down there in the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Well you know the campaign theme is “Country First”. It just doesn’t say which country.
ping
We'll change the battle cry from "Remember The Alamo!" to "Surrender The Alamo!"
>> Maybe Cornyn will get Palin on his side and together they will “educate” McCain.
That’s what I would like to see. I’m not holding my breath, however.
I must say I am proud of Mr. Cornyn, my reliably conservative junior Senator. (Kay Bailey, not so much.)
Cornyn will have to pull that knife out of his back......along with everyone who votes for McCain.
¡Republicanos!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.