DNC: McCain Holds Town Hall Meeting... In Private

Late Night Gathering Raises Questions, Where Does McCain Stand on Latino
Issues?

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --John McCain held a town hall
meeting with Latinos in Chicago, Illinois last night, but unlike all of his
other town hall meetings, this one took place behind closed doors. One hundred
pre-screened Latinos were bused in to Chicago for the meeting, but community
leaders like Eluid Medina, who heads a neighborhood networking group, were
kept out according to a news report. Medina told Diario Hoy that a
conversation on the challenges Latinos face, "can't be partisan, the problems
affect us all as a community and the meeting should have been open." [Diario
Hoy, 6/19/08]

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO )

McCain's closed-door town hall meeting with a pre-screened audience comes as
recent polls show John McCain has a problem with Latino voters. A recent
NBC/WSJ poll "showed Hispanics breaking for Obama 62%-28%" and "a new survey
of 800 Latino voters from 21 states finds that 60% of them plan to vote for
Obama versus 23% for McCain." [MSNBC First Read, 6/17/08]

Thus, even in a pre-screened audience, McCain could not avoid tough questions.
According to Hoy, Republican Precinct Committeeman Abraham Romero, who was
invited to attend, said he hoped to ask Senator McCain what his plans are for
undocumented immigrants. [Diario Hoy, 6/19/08] In recent weeks McCain has
tried to have it both ways on immigration reform, declaring his belief in the
need for comprehensive immigration reform to court Latino voters, but often in
the same sentence appeasing conservative anti-immigrants by saying he'll
pursue an enforcement-first approach, very different from comprehensive
reform. [nytimes.com, 5/22/08; Stockton Record, 5/25/08]

"After countless public town hall meetings with a variety of voters," asked
DNC spokesman Luis Miranda, "why is John McCain holding a town hall meeting
with Latinos late at night, behind closed doors, and only with a pre-screened
audience? Latinos and all Americans deserve real answers on where John McCain
really stands. He can't both support comprehensive reform and
enforcement-only, he can't promise change while offering a third Bush term on
everything from Iraq to the economy, and he can't expect Latino voters to
trust him while he'll only address their issues in private."

WHERE DOES MCCAIN REALLY STAND ON IMMIGRATION REFORM?

2006: McCain Championed The McCain-Kennedy Earned Legalization Immigration
Bill. McCain campaigned for the McCain-Kennedy bill which was described as
"the most generous of the bills now before Congress." The legislation "would
legalize as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants" and "grant temporary
work permits to illegal immigrants and then after waiting six years and paying
a $2,000 fine, it would enable them to apply for green cards." [Miami Herald,
2/24/06]

2008: McCain Said He Would Oppose the Legislation He Authored With Kennedy.
Asked whether he would vote for the immigration legislation he previously
sponsored, McCain eventually replied, "No, I would not." [CNN GOP Presidential
Debate, 1/30/08]

2006: McCain Said an "Enforcement First" Strategy Focusing Only on Border
Security is an "Ineffective And Ill-Advised Approach." "In April [2006], the
Senate overwhelmingly passed, in a bipartisan fashion, a comprehensive
immigration reform package designed to secure our borders as well as address
the economic need for workers in our Nation. In passing this legislation, the
Senate rejected the argument for an 'enforcement first' strategy that focuses
on border security only, an ineffective and ill-advised approach. Congress
cannot take a piecemeal approach to a national security crisis. I believe the
only way to truly secure our border and protect our Nation is through the
enactment of comprehensive immigration reform. As long as there is a need for
workers in the United States and people are willing to cross the desert to
make a better life for their families, our border will never be secure."
[McCain, Congressional Record, 9/29/06]

2007: Presidential Candidate McCain Touts Securing The Border First. In 2008,
McCain said, "And our proposal has got to be securing the borders first. The
American people have no trust or confidence in us that we would secure the
borders." In November 2007, McCain argued, "I want to assure you that I'll
enforce the borders first." [CNN Larry King Live, 2/14/08; CNN/YouTube
Republican Presidential Debate, 11/28/07]

2008: Trying to Have it Both Ways, McCain Calls For Comprehensive Immigration
Reform AND Enforcement First Approach. In California at "a roundtable with
business leaders" McCain said "that comprehensive immigration reform should be
a top priority for the next president." [nytimes.com, 5/22/08] But McCain is
also campaigning on an enforcement first approach, very different from
comprehensive reform. "I believe we have to secure our borders, and that our
border need to be secured first," McCain told an audience in Stockton,
California. In that same speech he claimed to "believe that we need a
comprehensive approach... After the borders are secured, and the border state
governors -- including the governor of this state -- certify that the borders
are secure..." [Stockton Record, 5/25/08]

WHERE DOES MCCAIN STAND ON THE DREAM ACT

2003 & 2005 & 2007: McCain Co-Sponsored The DREAM Act. McCain co-sponsored
versions of the DREAM Act in 2003, 2005, and early 2007. [S 1545, introduced
7/31/03; S 2075, introduced 11/21/05; S 774, introduced 3/6/07]

NOW in 2007: McCain Skipped Vote On DREAM Act But Said He Would Have Voted
Against Bill That He Co-Sponsored. "Last week, McCain skipped a Senate vote on
immigration legislation called the DREAM Act - Development Relief and
Education for Alien Minors. He then said he would have voted against the bill,
even though he was a co-sponsor." [Myrtle Beach Sun-News, 11/2/07]

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SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Luis Miranda of the Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-8148