“And my fear is that McCain-Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain-Feingold has done to campaign finance and money in politics, and that's bad.”
- Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Debate in South Carolina, May 15, 2007

Of course we know what happened to money in politics after McCain-Feingold: it increased instead of decreasing. We can only speculate the extent of damage that would be caused by the immigration reform that McCain and others proposed yesterday. However, my intent is not to debate the merits of the bill, but to discuss McCain’s approach to solving problems.

When asked at the debate about McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy, McCain had this answer:

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, the first issues you mentioned have to do with bipartisanship, have to do with reaching across the aisle and work for the good of the American people. That's what I intend to do. That's what leadership is all about. And the reason why congressional approval ratings -- I saw at 28 percent as -- and you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers when you get down that low -- (laughter) -- is because they want us to work together, they want us to reach across the aisle on issues that are important to America.

Apparently McCain gives us this formula: Bipartisanship = Leadership. However, this formulation seems dubious at best. To McCain, any answer that passes, with both sides agreeing, is the right answer. But consensus is not leadership. In fact leadership may be just the opposite. It would seem that McCain would understand this in his defense of the Iraq war. What is his defense of the Iraq war, then, if it fails his bipartisanship = leadership formula? His position does not garner bipartisan support. Does that make his support for the Iraq war wrong, or against American interests? Certainly not.

McCain’s propensity to sell Republican values and principles for the pottage of bipartisanship is why we should avoid him. His latest immigration proposal only reaffirms the need for someone who, even in the toughest of times and places has stood against the tide of liberal ideals. After listing the fights he’s led for life, traditional marriage, English immersion in schools, the death penalty, and abstinence education, Romney summed up true leadership:

“In the toughest of states, I made the toughest decisions and did what was right for America.” - Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Debate in South Carolina, May 15, 2007

Labels: Immigration, John McCain, Leadership, mccain-feingold