Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt: McCain's Lettuce Claims

Hugh Hewitt writes about McCain and his immigration claims.

You may remember that McCain suggested Americans wouldn't pick lettuce in Arizona for $50 an hour.

Here's the story:

As he steered his Straight Talk Express across the United States in recent weeks, Republican Sen. John McCain has tried to stay a-head of the immigration issue. But Friday the immigration issue delivered 36 or so heads to his Phoenix office — heads of lettuce, that is.

McCain has been getting skewered in the media for comments earlier this month to a union group in Washington, D.C., that immigrants are taking jobs no one else wants, and offered them $50 an hour to pick lettuce in the Arizona sun for a summer, suggesting they couldn't do it.

The senator didn't stick around long enough to process any applications, despite several offers to take him up on his offer from the audience.
So Friday more than three dozen demonstrators showed up at his office, many carrying lettuce picker applications in one hand, and a head of lettuce in the other to show they could do the job.

McCain may be so out of touch to realize that $50/hour is a lot of money. He's been inside the Beltway way too long!

Virtually all Americans I know would love to get that kind of money--even if it means picking lettuce in Arizona.

Update: I spent my teenage years in Arizona, and would have loved getting more than about $5-6/hour. My friends and I would have done anything for that kind of $ (even when adjusted for inflation).


	7 Comments: I hope Mitt brings up this absurd comment made by McCain, During next weeks debate. People will be shocked at how out of touch he is, I'd love to hear how McCain will back pedal from that statement. BW. By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 12:57 AM I asked Juan McAmnesty for one of those jobs back then and he still hasn't replied to me! ;-) By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 1:26 AM Four years ago in Arizona my teenage son couldn't get a job, because they would rather have an immigrant who could work any hours all year and didn't have school restaints. He wasn't afraid of hard work and he would have jumped at the chance to pick lettuce for $50 an hour. When he turned 18 he worked for a landscaper in the hot Arizona summer. Those of us here in Arizona know that John McCain is out of touch! By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 1:48 AM What McCain really meant: " My friends,we know Americans are so lazy they won't even pick lettuce for $50 an hour. This shows that my proposed open border policy is the right one for cheap salad lovers everywhere. I'll never be caught short with immigrant labor because I also support chain migration.". By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 4:22 AM Maybe we should connect the dots between McCain's farm workers making $50.00 per hour, and his opposition to both of Bush's tax cuts. In McCain's unpredictable mind, if ordinary workers are earning $50.00 per hour, they don't deserve to have their taxes cut. Makes perfect sense, when lettuce picking pulls down $50.00 per hour. On the other hand, we could be seeing an early sign of dementia -- as in, the "Putin is President of Germany" kind. $50.00 per hour lettuce + Putin is President of Germany = something. I'm not sure what. By rxmcb, at January 24, 2008 at 1:58 PM I picked pineapples in Hawaii for $6.00 an hour. I venture to say it was at least as hard as picking lettuce. By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 2:34 PM Romney supporters aren't very smart are they? Glad to work for $5 an hour while Romney sucks small businesses dry both at Bain and as Governor. McCain is one of the tightest-fisted conservatives in the Senate, and knows how to use hyperbole in making a point. By Anonymous, at January 24, 2008 at 5:49 PM Post a Comment