Sen. McCain Shows A Lack Of Character In New "Sheriffs" Ad

July 16, 2010 3:38 pm ET

In a new campaign ad, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) used Arizona sheriffs to present a dishonest and inaccurate portrayal of the long-time senator. While the ad attempts to convince viewers that McCain will fight for border security, his own voting record shows that border security has never been high on McCain's priority list.

McCain "Sheriffs" Ad: Character Matters

Sheriff Paul Babeu, Pinal County: We're sheriffs in Arizona. President Obama has made protecting our border incredibly difficult.

But Arizona has a Senator with the courage and character to stand up to a President who is wrong: John McCain.

A president versus a Senator. Doesn't seem like a fair fight- unless that Senator is John McCain.

Anonymous Sheriff: Character matters.

Character Does Matter - So Why Is McCain Misrepresenting His Record?

McCain Hasn't Always Supported Putting National Guard At The Border

2006: McCain Said Putting National Guard At Border Is "Partially PR." During an interview on Larry King Live, host Larry King and Sen. John McCain had the following exchange regarding bringing additional National Guard troops to the United States-Mexico border:

KING: You like the National Guard idea, since -- what do they really do?

MCCAIN: I think what the National Guard will do is one, provide some comfort to some of our citizens who feel we don't have enough people down there, and they're correct. I think the second thing is important to point out, that the guard people will play support and administrative roles and some labor work. But in order to be an effective border patrol -- remember the border patrol, it requires training, just like it requires training to do other specialties. So I think the President's intention is for them to go down there and be of assistance, but not be on the front line.

KING: Is it PR?

MCCAIN: Partially PR, because Americans are so upset about broken borders in a time when we're in a war on terror and we are not enforcing our borders. All of us understand and appreciate that. Larry, parts of southern California and parts of the southern part of my state are devastated by illegal aliens, whether it be health care costs or law enforcement or even destruction of our wildlife refuges. I understand the frustration that Americans feel, but thank God the majority of Americans feel that we have to handle this in a humane fashion and in a comprehensive fashion. [CNN, Larry King Live, 5/14/06]

McCain Has Repeatedly Voted Against Funding For Border Patrol

2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing $85 Million And 800 New Staff For Immigration Investigation. Sen. John McCain voted against Sen. Sessions' amendment that would "appropriate an additional $85,670,000 to enable the Secretary of Homeland Security to hire 800 additional full time active duty investigators to investigate immigration laws violations." The amendment failed 66-34. [S.Amdt. 4660 to H.R. 5441, Vote #201, 7/13/06]

2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing Additional Funds To Build A Border Fence On Southwest Border. Sen. McCain voted against an amendment that would "appropriate an additional $1,829,400,000 to construct double-layered fencing and vehicle barriers along the southwest border and to offset such increase by reducing all other discretionary amounts on a prorata basis." The amendment failed 71-29. [S.Amdt. 4659 to H.R. 5441, Vote#200, 7/13/06]

McCain Can't Make Up His Mind About A Border Fence

2003

McCain: "We Can't Secure Our Borders. We Can Never Build An Impenetrable Wall To The North And South Of Us." During an appearance on Fox's Big Story, Sen. McCain said, "We can't secure our borders, Rita. We can never build an impenetrable wall to the north and south of us." [Fox News, Big Story, via Lexis 5/31/03]

McCain Said Border Couldn't Be Fully Protected Because Good Jobs Would Continue To Drive Illegal Immigration. During a press conference, Sen. John McCain said: "We're not going to have a secure border as long as there's this kind of attraction of jobs into the United States of America. Our border between Arizona and Mexico is long, it's desolate and it cannot be fully protected 24 hours a day. The second issue is that, from a political reality, is there's a growing influence of Hispanic voters and Hispanic representation in the United States of America at all levels. And I believe that in a very positive fashion that influence can be meaningfully felt here in the legislative process because of the deep concern over both the humanitarian aspects of it, as well as labor protections, as well as citizenship is concerned." [McCain Press Conference via Lexis, 7/25/03]

2006

McCain: "We Need To Build A Wall And We Need To Enforce Our Borders." During an appearance on CBS's The Early Show, while speaking about immigration, McCain said, "We need to build a wall and we need to enforce our borders. But we're never going to solve the immigration issue until we have a viable guest worker program as well, and earned citizenship for the 11 million that are already here." [CBS, The Early Show, via Lexis, 2/1/06]

2007

McCain Said "I Got The Message, We're Going To Secure The Borders." Appearing on Fox News' Fox News Sunday, McCain told Chris Wallace that his position on immigration was a "mistake" and that "I got the message."

McCain: I think, as I say, we've made some mistakes. But every campaign I've ever been in, there's been ups and downs in those campaigns. I didn't expect it to be a day at the beach. We've got good people running.

Wallace: I'm not talking process. But what were the mistakes? I mean, in a substantive sense, what were the mistakes?

McCain: Well, a little straight talk - immigration reform was something that Americans, because they didn't trust the government - they have not trust or confidence in the government. They didn't believe us when we said we'd secure the borders. I got the message, we're going to secure the borders.

Wallace: First.

McCain: First. We're going to have to. I'll have to have, as president, the governors of the border states certify that the borders are secured.

[Fox News Sunday, 10/21/07]