Posted by
Gary Holt on Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:25:52 PM
While addressing CPAC this afternoon, with great humility, Senator McCain admitted failure in clarifying his intentions with the McCain Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration Reform effort. At the same time, Senator McCain makes his stance perfectly clear. John McCain proved again today that he is a “straight talker”. Below is an excerpt from the speech:
“Surely, I have held other positions that have not met with widespread agreement from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise nor would you permit me to forget it. On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which provoked the outspoken opposition of many conservatives, I stood my ground aware that my position would imperil my campaign. I respect your opposition for I know that the vast majority of critics to the bill based their opposition in a principled defense of the rule of law. And while I and other Republican supporters of the bill were genuine in our intention to restore control of our borders, we failed, for various and understandable reasons, to convince Americans that we were. I accept that, and have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage another wave of illegal immigration.”