In a July 2 report on National Public Radio's (NPR) Morning Edition , national political correspondent Mara Liasson said that Sen. John McCain "has made a career of taking heat from his own party for working with liberal Democrats like [Sen.] Russ Feingold [WI] on campaign finance reform or [Sen.] Ted Kennedy [MA] on immigration. These bipartisan efforts are both the source of his maverick reputation and the cause of his ongoing problems with the Republican Party's conservative base." However, Liasson did not note that in the course of seeking the Republican nomination for president, McCain reversed his position on a key component of comprehensive immigration reform. McCain now says that "we've got to secure the borders first" -- a position at odds with his prior assertion that border security could not be disaggregated from other aspects of comprehensive immigration reform. McCain further stated during the January 30 Republican presidential debate that he would not vote for the bill he co-sponsored with Kennedy if it came to a vote on the Senate floor. A November 4, 2007, Associated Press article about McCain's change in position noted that his "high-profile support" for the McCain-Kennedy bill "hurt him politically" and quoted McCain stating: "I understand why you would call it a, quote, shift. ... I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people's priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders." Media Ma ...
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