Get your copy of our weekly print products at any of these convenient locations.

McCain right to reach out to Latinos

An editorial  —  7/19/2008 7:16 am

The cynical conservative commentators who have tried, with limited success, to make a nation of immigrants hate immigrants are furious with John McCain.

The Arizona senator who Republicans will nominate for president is just not as good a hater as some of his fellow partisans demand.

Unlike most recent Republican nominees, McCain is accepting invitations to appear before civil rights groups -- most recently the NAACP -- and he is delivering credible addresses that earn him responses that are at the very least respectful.

That's not sitting well with the divide-and-conquer commentators who seeks to police the Grand Old Party.

McCain upset the anti-immigration crowd when he appeared last week at the convention in Washington of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington. And he infuriated them even more with his appearance Monday at the National Council of La Raza conference in San Diego.

Anti-immigration zealots have for years attacked La Raza, which has historically encouraged Latinos to take pride in their heritage and which has not hesitated to challenge what the group sees as bigotry.

In recent months, La Raza has mounted an aggressive campaign to counter the uglier excesses of the immigration debate. Its "Take the Hate Out of the Immigration Debate" campaign (www.wecanstopthehate.org) urges activists to write letters, send e-mails and otherwise confront racism that is dressed up as immigration activism.

Conservative commentators such as Michelle Malkin are enraged that McCain would not merely appear at a La Raza event but hail the organization's work. "The campaign justifies his appearance by framing it as a gesture of inclusiveness and outreach that is 'part of his commitment to talking with all Americans,' " gripes Malkin. "Yes, they see it as an act of tolerance to legitimize the militantly open-borders, anti-immigration-enforcement, ethnic nationalists who call themselves 'The Race.' "

Malkin circulated her "Top 10 Reasons McCain Should Repudiate the National Council of La Raza" and posted pictures of anti-McCain signs on her Web site. Writing for National Review Online, commentator Victor David Hanson echoed some of those themes.

To his credit, McCain rejected their advice.

The senator delivered a speech that complimented La Raza, and recalled his long association with the group. "As you know, this isn't my first address to La Raza," the senator began. "I'm proud to have worked hard over the years with many friends here and elsewhere to make sure Americans of Hispanic heritage are appreciated for their contributions to the prosperity, security and culture of the United States, and to improve opportunities for your continued success, not for your sake alone but for the benefit of the entire nation. ...

"And to my fellow Arizonans here today, who have given me the great honor of serving you in the United States Senate, thank you from the bottom of my heart. With your votes, advice and encouragement you have helped me to be a better public servant and a better American, and I am in your debt."

McCain also delivered an in-your-face rebuke to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who accused the Republican of abandoning his commitment to responsible immigration reform.

Obama suggested "that I turned my back on comprehensive reform out of political necessity," said McCain. "I feel I must, as they say, correct the record.

"At a moment of great difficulty in my campaign, when my critics said it would be political suicide for me to do so, I helped author with Senator Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform, and fought for its passage. I cast a lot of hard votes, as did the other Republicans and Democrats who joined our bipartisan effort. So did Senator Kennedy. I took my lumps for it without complaint. My campaign was written off as a lost cause. I did so not just because I believed it was the right thing to do for Hispanic Americans. It was the right thing to do for all Americans. Senator Obama declined to cast some of those tough votes. He voted for and even sponsored amendments that were intended to kill the legislation, amendments that Senator Kennedy and I voted against.

"I never ask for any special privileges from anyone just for having done the right thing. Doing my duty to my country is its own reward. But I do ask for your trust that when I say I remain committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it. I think I have earned that trust."

In truth, McCain made statements during the primary that created an opening for the criticism he's gotten from Obama. And the Republican has accepted support from some of the nastier players in the immigration debate. So he is not exactly a perfect player. But he has more credibility on immigration issues than most of his fellow Republicans, and more than a few Democrats. And he added to that credibility by accepting the invitations from LULAC and La Raza.

That's what scares conservative commentators. If McCain proves that Republicans can compete for Hispanic votes, and if in so doing he succeeds in moving his party away from the anti-immigrant fringe and into the mainstream, then the immigrant-bashers will be isolated. And America might just get serious about adopting humane and responsible immigration policies.

An editorial  —  7/19/2008 7:16 am