| 04.07.2008 |
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| The Republican presidential candidate just completed a trip through Latin America that had The Washington Post asking, "Why is John McCain in Colombia?" McCain has his own answer, but some saw the trip as a risky gambit. McCain, as I wrote recently, is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to emphasizing his foreign policy strengths or the economy, on which he is weaker but that voters care more about right now. On that count, this trip could further enhance his foreign policy experience, but the Post notes: "McCain could not have made this trip because he needs to burnish his foreign policy credentials," because he already has the advantage there. Barack Obama's planned overseas visit is certainly for that reason. In many areas of Latin American policy, the two men are alike. Could the trip be about trade? Perhaps, but in that regard, the U.S. public is very divided about free trade agreements. Could the trip be about immigration? Maybe, but McCain's stance against an immigration bill he once helped negotiate has put him in a strange position, caught between Hispanic voters and those on the anti-immigration right. And while many have interpreted the trip as an attempt by McCain to curry favor with Hispanic voters, that very immigration position has probably cost him -- at least compared to Obama, whose views are closer to those McCain once held that were more forgiving of illegal immigrants in the country now. That leaves appeal to Catholics as a highlight of the trip, as the Times suggests, since McCain spent some time with the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. That's a significant voter group, but could McCain have won them over without a visit to Latin America? It could just be that this whole thing is a leftover from the perception that McCain's campaign is wobbly and still finding its legs -- which, given the campaign shakeup of late, is not the most implausible reason for the visit at all. |
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| 2 Comments |
| McCain shouldn't be trying to "curry favor" with Hispanic voters! He should be trying to curry favor with Americans, period! The problem is many of these people see themselves as a distinct culture within America, or alongside it, or in competition with it. In my experience most illegal Mexicans, for example, see themselves as Mexicans not just first and foremost, which would be bad enough, but to the exclusion of being American at all. This is very dangerous. The biggest threat to the security of America in the long term is not from terrorism or any other country. The threat comes from governments, local, state, or federal, politicians, media and businesses trying to "curry favor" with Hispanics. By doing so they are laying the groundwork for the balkanization of America. History proves that whenever you allow too many immigrants, legal or illegal, from one culture, not to mention one with another language, into another culture you run the risk of these people not being assimilated or integrating. From their point of view they would say why should we since there are so many of us now. Take that situation and factor in so many people trying to "curry favor" with these people for the sake of a vote, a dollar, or because of some twisted political ideology and in the end you will end up with tensions in the near term, where we are now, and civil war in the future. These words, my words, are not coming from someone with a far right view on the situation but from someone that can take some of the most basic lessons from history, and common sense, and apply it to the situation we now have in America, and to a certain extent in Europe. America is an amalgamation of people from different cultures, as are all countries to varying extents, but lets not forget that that amalgamation is also a distinct culture on its own formed through over 200 years of existence. That unique and great American culture will cease to exist when enough people betray it for their own selfish goals. |
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| T. Allen | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.07.2008, 06:47 | ||
| Re: McCain in Colombia Where was FARC when we needed it? |
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| Jimmy G | Homepage | E-Mail | 07.07.2008, 14:06 | ||