Finally some truth.

COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 19 — Sen. John McCain conquered the South Carolina Republican primary Saturda…

So, why do the other candidates hate Mitt Romney? Several reasons:

1. He can win. Governor Romney appeals to economic conservatives and could appeal to foreign policy conservatives based upon his understanding of the issues. Most non-partisan foreign policy wonks who have briefed the major candidates tell me that Romney “gets it” better than any other candidate — even better than those who have held high profile office for decades. Moreover, he is the candidate that the Democrats most fear.
2. Jealousy — from his hair to his appearance to his family to his money – these are all reasons for deep seeded, if unseemly, jealousy. This green-eyed monster makes its appearance in almost every speech or presentation, in the form of a joke, a jab or a veiled reference.
3. He isn’t beholden to interest groups. Governor Romney’s wealth frees him from any influence that interest groups could apply to others – especially those who lack funds or who are Washington insiders. He doesn’t need them, and that scares the interest groups and their allies. He is not of the game and wants to change it – and his personal wealth allows him to do so. He really can change Washington.
4. His brains – not only is he one of the smartest people ever to seek the presidency (having earned a Harvard MBA and JD simultaneously), but he understands the complexities of the issues that America faces and is able to devise workable solutions. Just look at his proposal for an economic stimulus and compare it to what the other candidates are proposing. Romney clearly can lead this country through economic challenges.
5. His wealth — again. While he has raised more than any other candidate, Governor Romney doesn’t need to raise the money in order to continue. Nevertheless, he understands that successful candidates must have people invested in their candidacy in order to succeed. He has learned the lessons of past wealthy businessmen who make vanity runs for the White House. The other candidates have to constantly raise money in order to continue their campaigns.
6. His experience. The rest of the Republican field has been in politics in one form or another for most of their adult lives. Governor Romney came to public service after having a successful career in which he directly created jobs, saved jobs, invested in new companies and turned around failed businesses. He even fixed both the Olympics and the failing state of Massachusetts. More than any other candidate, Governor Romney’s experience is most directly applicable to the average American’s situation.
7. He believes that America’s best days are ahead of it, and not a memory. Governor Romney is a man of the future, not of the past. He sees America as a beacon of freedom for the entire world, and not a country limping toward its last days. His infectious optimism is informed by his business experience, his love of country and his family values. His can-do spirit is the antidote to defeatism masked as “straight talk” or “reality.”
8. His beliefs. When all else fails, Governor Romney’s opponents attack his religion in the hopes of sowing fear and loathing. Not only is this unseemly, but it is dangerous. We have seen this type of rhetoric before – in the 1920’s and 1930’s – from the likes of Henry Ford and Father Caughlin and others who sought to disenfranchise whole segments of the American population. Governor Romney believes in the common American faith of democracy and religious freedom, as he so eloquently stated in his speech “Faith in America.” These are the values our Founding Fathers codified in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Why do the Republican candidates hate him? Because they don’t have any answers to his challenges. They seek to undermine him by using personal attacks more worthy of a middle school playground than a presidential contest. This is politics and Washington as usual, and choosing any candidate that employs these tactics will only get us more of the same. One would hope that Americans could see beyond these base attacks and choose the candidate who is best for the country – Governor Mitt Romney.

Amy D. Goldstein is an occasional contributor to American Thinker.

McCain has been campaigning in South Carolina telling everyone that he never really supported amnesty. Previously, McCain and Lieberman were on a PR campaign together in NH and lying through their teeth on McCain’s immigration record. At a recent town hall meeting, McCain speaks for a while uttering his gibberish about illegal immigration and the illegal’s are god’s children (he obviously believes that they are a special type of god’s children and deserve some kind of extra compassion), etc. Lieberman takes the mike and says…”To say John McCain ever supported amnesty for illegal immigrants is a lie…” This is extremely disturbing that both of these Senators would try to deceive and directly lie to people for the express purpose of garnering votes. You can view this for yourself in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er3gSPhNSEM

McCain is trying to run from his actions and record. He is intentionally distorting (I call it lying) the irrefutable fact that he was a supporter of amnesty by claiming he was never for amnesty. He was a main architect, contributor and proponent of the Comphrensive Immigration Reform bills (s. 1348 and s. 1639) of 2007 that were written in order to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. McCain was so deep into the content and language of these bills that they were often referred to as the Kennedy-McCain Immigration Reform bills.

McCain has consistently supported amnesty for illegal aliens since at least 2003 as reported by hotair.com from a Tuscon Citizen article…“McCain Pushes Amnesty, Guest-Worker Program,” reported the Tucson Citizen of May 29, 2003. The senator is quoted as saying: “Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a component of it.” The newspaper also quoted McCain as saying: “I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that we have some control over people who come in and out of this country.”
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/01/05/video-liebs-says-mccain-did-not-support-amnesty-for-illegal-aliens/
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/06/017540.php

An in-depth interview in June 2007 conducted with WBT radio Charlotte, NC illustrates McCain’s lack of knowledge of the details in his own Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. His arrogance and condescending attitude to those who disagreed with him on the amnesty issue can also be heard: http://jeffkatz.wbt.com/audio.cfm;jsessionid=2e30fbce04aa6e53e62082817536929611f5TR?ID=7

During the ABC News presidential debate on January 5, 2008 McCain said: “Let me just say I’ve never supported amnesty. A few nights ago, Joe Lieberman and I had a town hall meeting together. It was a rather unusual event. The issue came up. Joe Lieberman said John McCain has never supported amnesty, and anybody says he does is a liar, he’s lying.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05text-rdebate.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1199721737-2vqWJVFzkwWyQwnxeL9Sew

One day later at the Fox News presidential forum, McCain said, “I have never, ever supported amnesty, and never will”.

During the Fox News presidential debate on January 10, 2008 McCain said: “I know how to secure the borders. I come from a border state where our borders are broken. More people come across our border illegally every year than most any other state. And I will secure the borders first…The remaining 12 million…we must then, in my view, address it in as humane and compassionate way as possible. The three GIs who were missing last year in action, one of them was still missing in action, his wife was about to be deported from this country. I’m not going to deport the wife of a fighting serviceman who’s missing in action. I’m going to handle it in a humane, compassionate fashion.” EARTH to McMARS; if you know how to secure the borders, why is your home state’s border still unsecured (McCain has been in Congress for 26 years, the last 22 as a Senator), so much so that more illegals come across your border than anywhere else? What have you been waiting for? Amnesty (again)? Furthermore, what does a GI wife’s situation have to do with the 20 to 36 million illegal aliens here, many of which came across those borders you know how to secure but have done nothing to secure?
http://www.thestate.com/presidential-politics/story/281821.html

His win in the SC Primary further illustrated McCain hasn’t changed his views on illegal immigration. “Actually, I didn’t change my position…” McCain told Sean Hannity on January 19 right after he was declared the winner of the SC Primary. McCain is constantly saying that conservatives opposed his plan because they didn’t trust the federal government. But that’s only partially true. They opposed the amnesty plan because they disagreed with forgiving the crimes of 20 plus million illegal aliens crashing through our borders by giving them amnesty and putting them on a special path to citizenship. Watch the video below carefully regarding the interview Sean Hannity conducted with McCain right after he was declared the winner in the SC Primary. When Hannity brings up the ‘Kennedy-McCain Comp. Immig. Reform’ bill, McCain’s arrogance flares as he starts laughing, dismisses the question with the “actually I’ve never changed my position”, babbles about he’s from a border state so he knows how to secure the borders (remember he has been in Congress for 26 years and has done nothing); then he quickly moves in another direction to avoid addressing Hannity’s question any further.
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=07767d08-f30d-4183-9834-1be8e37b45fb

Lest we forget or if anyone is unsure as to what the definition of amnesty is, I will provide it below:

AMNESTY, in relation to immigration matters, is legislation to forgive the breaking of immigration laws and to make it possible for illegal aliens to live permanently in the United States. Amnesty represents a system of federal rewards and assistance for illegal aliens, and they entice an even greater number of foreign nationals to illegally enter a country.

AMNESTY:
1. A general pardon for offenses against a government
2. An act of forgiveness for past offenses, esp. to a class of persons as a whole
3. Forgetting or overlooking any past offense

Not only is McCain a supporter of amnesty, he is not fond of any fencing for immigration control or for security reasons. McCain said, “By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the goddamned fence if they want it.”[Prisoner of Conscience – Vanity Fair, February 2007: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702

”We are not going to erect barriers and fences” (June 5, 2007 CNN Republican Presidential Candidates Debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5G3kH1PvvU )

I suppose McCain has never heard of the 14-mile double-layer fence between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Its benefits in stopping illegal entry into the U.S. were immediate and long lasting. According to a 2005 Congressional Research Service report illegal alien apprehensions along the fence region dropped from 202,000 in 1992 to 9,000 in 2004, a reduction greater than 95% ( http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200712/NAT20071219b.html )

Particularly galling is that December’s omnibus spending bill did not include the appropriations for construction of the double layer 700-mile border fence, which was passed into law just a few months earlier. Additionally, the requirement of a double-layer fence mandated by the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was removed, so if funding is ever restored, a truly effective fence being constructed is unlikely.

I’m sure if McCain was somehow elected President; one of his first official acts would be to take down the fence surrounding the White House…right John?

Yep. But it’s the “leading Conservative voices” who have the problem: fewer and fewer Americans are listening. Heck, if Limbaugh and his ilk didn’t have the immigration bugaboo to flog, who would even tune in? His rants are increasingly irrelevant, and his ideology no longer resonates with the realities of shrinking incomes, diminishing net worth, and insecure futures.

The majority of Americans in 2008 perceive that a conservative administration has demolished our economy, wasted 4,000 young lives, and trashed our international image with its penchant for war, rendition, and torture. After eight disastrous years, it should come as no surprise that conservative thinking is seen as the problem, not the solution, and it’s equally unsurprising that many voters would be looking elsewhere for leadership. The Reagan coalition of corporate suits and working stiffs is dead, and you can thank George W. Bush for killing it.

With all the invoking of President Reagan this cycle, it’s nice to see some backing to these claims….