Michael Gerson on McCain’s epic fail:
The intensity of these Republican attitudes is evident not just from what activists say but also from what Republican leaders are being forced to say. Sen. John McCain, a long-term supporter of humane, comprehensive immigration reform, has run a commercial feeding fears of “drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder” by illegal immigrants.
Never mind that the level of illegal immigration is down in Arizona or that skyrocketing crime rates along the border are a myth. McCain’s tag line — “Complete the danged fence” — will rank as one of the most humiliating capitulations in modern political history.
awful! he thinks he’s chuck norris.
the “maverick” has become a laughing stock, even among his peers. witness joe scarborough and guest’s reaction to the add.
he’s toast.
h/t steve benen.
And the Republican Presidential Candidate in 2012 is toast too. I cannot believe the Republicans have not learned the lessons of California Gov. Pete Wilson.
Or we could just amend the Constitution to make it so there no new mosques.
Skyrocketing crime rates along the border is a myth? I don’t believe the folks in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez would agree with Gerson.
Having lived near the border for nearly 3 decades, I can say from personal experience that all kinds of serious crime flourish along the border and within 100 mi of the border, and have for a decade or more. Trespass, human waste, vandalism, car theft, and many other problems too numerous to list are also directly related to border proximity. So what if migration rates are down. The problems are still there and are still serious.
Needless to say I don’t agree in any way with the Arizona approach, but to minimize the problems as Gerson does is putting one’s head in the sand. And will not lead to solutions so desperately needed.
I think they were talking about Arizona, since that is where Cranky “Get Off My Lawn!!!” McSame is running
NYT recently had an article about the large Native American reservation (Tohono O’Odham) on the Arizona border and how these people now found themselves in the midst of a war zone.
Here in the heartland a thousand miles away, Trespass, human waste, vandalism, car theft, and many other problems too numerous to list flourish quite well, thank you. Crime is crime. I’d be astonished if the crime rate in your neighborhood is significantly worse than it is in mine. The solutions here, as where you live, are just laws and competent enforcement, not silly nostrums.
I no longer live near the border, but the situation where I now live is very, very different. If you haven’t experienced it first hand, you have no idea what it’s like.
Please note I clearly stated that I didn’t favor silly nostrums, or worse, as Arizona is suggesting.
I didn’t mean to suggest that you did. What I was trying to say was, if the problem is crime, focus on that. Whether the criminals are legal or illegal residents is beside the point. Turning immigration reform into a crime issue can only damage any hope of rational responses.
I understand what you are saying, but from what I know the two are deeply intertwined. Mexico itself has terrible problems with corruption and crime, especially drug-related crime.
the terrible problems in Mexico, in the border cities on the Mexico side, are connected with the drug trafficker wars – wars with each other and with the the Mexico gov. Police are very poorly paid (as police) and a high percentage have been bought off by the traffickers. the murders of women in Ciudad Juarez is something else – there’s no accepted explanation though the sexual tourism explanation I find plausible. But the activities of the traffickers on the Mexico side has nothing do with undocumented workers crossing the border, except the common cause of serious unemployment and the fact that some traffickers also take humans across the border.
I have read that Ciudad Juarez has lost 40% of its population due to fear of the drug traffickers. Not certain which side of the border they fled to. LIkely both. Read more recently about a town also on the Texas border much farther to the east with similar problems.
40%! that is something! evidently some usa citizens are relocating across the border on the usa side. Evidently it’s become dangerous for schoolchildren and college students (in Monterrey) who have been randomly shot by drug traffickers (either by accident or revenge against their families).
It’s definitely a stunning number. Many parts of Mexico are in serious distress.
From what I’ve read about undocumented workers and crime, there’s little crime committed by the undocumented but plenty of crime committed against them as they are vulnerable (have no recourse and are in unfamiliar places).
I think this is true, but petty theft, trespass, trash, human waste, etc. are definitely problems related to the circumstances in which these people find themselves once they cross the border. And if you live or work in the path of it, it’s pretty tough to deal with, even if you are sympathetic to their plight.
That sheriff is an asshole – his county is not adjacent to the Great Wall, either. It’s in the interior of the state.
A curse on all of them.
Anyone remember McCain’s response to the immigration question during the republican presidential debates? I wonder what changed his mind? Man, this guy flips more times than a pancake! Also, hope everyone realizes that the cop in this ad isn’t even in the jurisdiction where this ad was shot…
Two words: Tea Party
The Republicans: appealing to the worse instincts in people
The Democrats: appealing to the best instincts in people
The democrats are not perfect, but my goodness, the difference couldn’t be more staggering.
When will we see a new conservative movement emerge from the wreckage ? A movement more centrist and more based on reality, but first and foremost, a movement with a CONSCIENCE ? The country needs two SANE parties.
The Republicans haven’t had a conscience since Abraham Lincoln died.
Nor have they been conservative in any real meaning of the word.
Told ya. He’s going to lose to Hayworth. Now where is the worthy Dem challenger? Ugh. Damned DSCC.
And holy shit. I never watched this ad, just saw people linking to it. Dear god is that racist and xenophobic. “One of us”? What the hell is that supposed to mean? A grumpy old grandpa who got his ass spanked and is still bitter about it?
Racist and xenophobic, yet incredibly amateurish and ineffectual. Given the Dems’ failure to put up a credible candidate there, I suppose we have to root for McCain anyhow. Pathetic.
pathetic is the word.
Rodney Glassman and Randy Parraz are running in the Dem primary. I think there’s a third candidate but can’t recall the name.
Here’s the PPP report on the race, as of 4/28/10
The advertisement is sick.