Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Sen. John McCain is scheduled to accept the Republican nomination for president later tonight. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin accepted the nomination for vice president last night. Though neither has spent much time talking about immigration, it is sure to come up some time after the next president takes office. With that in mind, how have the GOP candidates stood on the issue in the past?

John McCain is well-known for going against the majority of his party to back comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. This reform would include a guest worker program, which is perhaps of special importance to a senator from Arizona, which has experienced a recent labor shortage. He is also opposed to English as an official language.

During the GOP primary, McCain backed away from his previous stance on immigration, suggesting that this shift was due to the public reception of his bill. At one debate, McCain responded to a question about whether he would back his bill if it came up again this way:

We are all committed to carrying out the mandate of the American people, which is a national security issue, which is securing the borders. That was part of the original proposal. But the American people didn’t trust or have confidence in us that we would do it. So we now know we have to secure the borders first. And that is what needs to be done. That’s what I’ll do as president of the United States.

Veep pick Palin has no record on immigration—after all, the tiny state of Alaska has barely any immigrants. It is safe to assume she would officially agree with McCain, however.

McCain’s stance is not much different from current president George W. Bush, or his rival, Sen. Barack Obama. But even though it is not being debated among these candidates, immigration remains a contentious issue. If McCain were to win, could he pass comprehensive immigration reform this time?

(AP Photo)