Citizens United Foes Seek a McCain Stand-In (McCain may attack conservatives after beating J.D.!)

Elias and other observers say that the day of reckoning for possible McCain support is Aug. 24, when Arizona voters take to the polls to decide the 2008 GOP presidential nominee’s fate against his primary opponent, GOP former Rep. J.D. Hayworth. Many observers speculate that after the primary, McCain may pivot toward the middle and could ultimately back a Schumer-Van Hollen bill.

“Perhaps he’s planning on voting for it, but because of political considerations or other things he just doesn’t want to be out front,” Elias said. “At the end of the day, it may very well be that he doesn’t want to be a proponent of it, but that’s different than saying he wouldn’t vote for it. ... It may just be that he’s saving for the last minute that decision.”

“McCain has pretty much the same problem going on right now as he did in his presidential campaign. He’s making every effort to appeal to the hard-core Republican base, and he has determined that it requires him to shift away from being a reform advocate for the time being.”

A McCain spokesman declined to comment for this article, but a Republican strategist agreed that the senator’s silence on a Citizens United bill may end as he pivots toward November.

“It’s less the substance than it is being tagged in the primary as voting against the party,” the Republican strategist said. “It’s a hard decision for him because he doesn’t want to be seen as voting against the party.”

Polling suggests that the high court’s decision is unpopular with general-election voters, the source said, and McCain is merely staying quiet to avoid being associated with Democrats while he is in the midst of the primary fight.

A detailed history of McCain voting JUST on amnesty

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to reward illegal aliens with amnesty Sen.
McCain voted in favor of a second motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Edward Kennedy),
a bill to reward up to 6 million illegal aliens with amnesty. The motion to invoke cloture would have limited further debate on the bill and moved it to a final vote. A vote for cloture was effectively a vote in favor of passing the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 46 to 53.

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens Sen. McCain voted in favor of a motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Edward Kennedy), a bill to reward illegal aliens with amnesty. The motion to invoke cloture was a move to initiate debate on the proposal and limit further discussion of amendments to a previously-agreed upon set of proposals — thus a vote against cloture was effectively a vote in favor of killing the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture passed by a vote of 64 to 35.

2007: Voted on Senate floor against reducing amnesties for illegal aliens Sen. McCain voted in favor of a motion to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment (SA 1150) to S. 1348, a bill to reward illegal aliens with amnesty. The motion to invoke cloture would have ended debate on the proposal and limited further discussion of amendments to a previously-agreed upon set of proposals — thus a vote in favor of cloture was effectively a vote in favor of the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 45 to 50.

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of amendment to create a disincentive to apply for amnesty Sen. McCain voted in favor of the Cornyn Amendment (SA 1250) to S. 1348 to discourage applicants from applying for amnesty by eliminating the provisions protecting the confidentiality of the information contained in amnesty applications and, instead, requires the sharing of application-related information upon the request of a law enforcement agency, intelligence, or national security agency, or DHS component when requested in connection with a duly-authorized investigation of a civil violation. The Cornyn Amendment passed by a vote of 57 to 39.

2007: Voted on Senate floor against amendment to bar certain criminals from amnesty Sen. McCain voted against the Cornyn Amendment (SA 1184) to S. 1385 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Harry Reid) to bar criminal aliens from receiving amnesty. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has estimated that 15% of illegal aliens are criminals. The Cornyn Amendment failed by a vote of 46 to 51.

2007: Voted against amendment to strip amnesty provisions from S. 1348 in 2007 Sen. McCain voted against the Vitter Amendment to strip the amnesty provisions from S. 1348 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Harry Reid). The Vitter Amendment failed by a vote of 29 to 66.

2007: Cosponsoring S. 774 to reward illegal aliens with amnesty S. 774 (whose main sponsor is Sen. Dick Durbin) would reward illegal aliens under the age of 21 who have been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above with amnesty. An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 illegal aliens would qualify for this amnesty.

2007: Cosponsoring S. 340 to grant amnesty to illegal aliens (AgJOBS) Sen. McCain is a cosponsor of S. 340 (whose main sponsor is Sen. Dianne Feinstein) to encourage more illegal immigration by rewarding certain illegal aliens who work in agriculture with amnesty.

2006: Voted on Senate floor in favor of S. 2611 to reward illegal aliens with amnesty Sen. McCain voted in favor of final passage of S. 2611 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Arlen Specter) which includes an amnesty (both immediate and deferred) for 10.2 million illegal aliens (6.7 million illegal alien workers and 3.5 million illegal alien spouses and/children). S. 2611 passed by a vote of 62 to 36.

2006: Voted in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens Sen. McCain voted in favor of a motion to invoke cloture on S. 2611 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Arlen Specter) which includes an amnesty (both immediate and deferred) for 10.2 million illegal aliens (6.7 million illegal alien workers and 3.5 million illegal alien spouses and/children). The motion to invoke cloture passed by a vote of 73 to 25.

2006: Voted against amendment to reward 2 million illegal aliens with amnesty Sen. McCain voted against the Feinstein Amendment to S. 2611 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Arlen Specter) to create an “orange card” that would allow an estimated two million illegal aliens to pay a fine, and after 6-8 years, adjust to Lawful Permanent Resident status. The Feinstein Amendment failed by a vote of 37 to 61 .

2006: Voted against amendment to kill amnesty provisions Sen. McCain voted against the Vitter amendment (SA 3963) to S. 2611 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Arlen Specter) to remove provisions authorizing the “earned legalization” and “agricultural worker” amnesty schemes that would grant amnesty to an estimated 16 million illegal aliens and their families (according to a May, 2006 study by the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector). The Vitter amendment failed by a vote of 33 to 66.

2006: Voted against procedural move to reward illegal aliens with amnesty Sen. McCain voted against cloture on SA 3424, a “compromise amnesty” proposal by Sens. Hagel (R-NE) and Martinez (R-FL). The purpose of voting against allowing a final vote on this proposal varied from Senator to Senator, with many of them favoring the proposal but not willing to bring it up without a lot of votes on amendments. At the least, those voting against cloture were insisting on a chance for opponents of the bill to make their case with amendments. The Hagel-Martinez proposal would reward illegal aliens with amnesty. S. 2611 includes an amnesty (both immediate and deferred) for 10.2 million illegal aliens (6.7 million illegal alien workers and 3.5 million illegal alien spouses and/children). The cloture motion failed by a vote of 38 to 60.

2005-2006: Cosponsored S. 2075 to reward illegal aliens with amnesty S. 2075 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Dick Durbin) would reward illegal aliens under the age of 21 who have been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above with amnesty. An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 illegal aliens would qualify for this amnesty. The bill died in the Judiciary Committee.

2005-2006: Cosponsored S. 1033 to reward illegal aliens with amnesty Sen. McCain was a cosponsor of S. 1033 to reward virtually all illegal aliens (except those with criminal records or terrorist connections) with amnesty. This could potentially reward 9 million illegal aliens with amnesty. This bill died in the Judiciary Committee.

2005: Voted in favor of amnesty for agricultural workers Sen. McCain voted to invoke cloture, a procedural move requiring 60 votes to limit debate and ensure a vote on the AgJOBS amnesty amendment for up to 3 million illegal aliens, introduced by Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), to the Iraq supplemental spending bill. The Senate voted 53 to 45 not to invoke cloture, effectively keeping the amnesty off of the final bill.

2005-2006: Cosponsored S. 359 to grant amnesty to illegal aliens Sen. McCain was a cosponsor of S. 359 to encourage more illegal immigration by rewarding certain illegal aliens who work in agriculture with amnesty.

2003-2004: Cosponsored S. 1645 to grant amnesty to illegal aliens Sen. McCain cosponsored S. 1645 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Larry Craig) to encourage more illegal immigration by rewarding certain illegal aliens who work in agriculture with amnesty. This bill died in the Judiciary Committee.

2003-2004: Cosponsored S. 1545 to reward illegal aliens with amnesty S. 1545 would have rewarded illegal aliens under the age of 21 who have been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above with amnesty. An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 illegal aliens would have qualified for this amnesty.

2003-2004: Cosponsored S. 1461 to encourage reward illegal aliens with amnesty Sen. McCain cosponsored S. 1461, to create a legalization process for almost all illegal aliens who will then be eligible for green cards after 6 years. Amnesty has been shown to increase rates of illegal immigration. The bill did not come to a vote.

2000: Voted against an illegal immigration amnesty. Sen. McCain voted against including an amnesty for illegal aliens from Central America in the Senate H-1B bill (S.2045). This not necessarily a vote against the amnesty, but rather a vote against including it in the H-1B legislation. The move to attach the amnesty failed 43-55.

1997: Voted for an amnesty to illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba. Sen. McCain voted for a procedural move that helped allow the Mack Amendment to be included in S.1156 (the District of Columbia Appropriations bill). This amendment granted amnesty to illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba and is expected to add close to one million people to U.S. population. 96 N/A N/A

1990: Voted for a bill that included an amnesty. Sen. McCain supported S.358 (whose main sponsor was Sen. Edward Kennedy), which provided an amnesty for up to 165,000 spouses and minor children of illegal aliens who were granted amnesty in 1986. Ultimately, the 1990 bill passed 81-17.

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