Has McCain weakened his position on immigration?

Last night during the Republican presidential debate, Senator John McCain drew a clear distinction between his views on immigration and those of Rep. Tom Tancredo. From the debate:

REP. TANCREDO: Well, of course, if I thought there should be another one, I wouldn’t be here. I think that I serve the purpose. I think that we -- good men all here, don’t get me wrong. But I am telling you this; that there are issues that I believe have not been addressed tonight, not in full, and I believe that they do separate us, and I certainly believe the issue of immigration and immigration reform and what’s going to happen to this country unless we deal with this forthrightly.

No more platitudes. No more obfuscating with using words like, "Well, I am not for amnesty but I’m for letting them stay." That kind of stuff has got to be taken away from the political debate, as far as I’m concerned, so people can understand exactly who is where on this incredibly important issue.

And when they see that, I think, frankly, I’m --

MR. MATTHEWS: Okay, time.

Anyone have a follow-up with that? Anyone with disagree with the strong anti-illegal immigration position? Take a strong view? Senator McCain.

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, I’m happy to say that we’ve been working very hard for a couple of months with Democrats and Republicans, led by the president and his Cabinet, to come up with a comprehensive solution and resolution of this terrible problem.

One thing we would all agree on: the status quo is not acceptable. We have to secure our borders, but we also need a temporary worker program, and we have to dispose of the issue of 12 million people who are in this country illegally.

This issue is a(n) important and compelling one, and it begins with national security. But we also need to address it comprehensively, and I’m proud to work with the president of the United States on this issue.

Yet, as Senator Chris Dodd pointed out yesterday in this AP article, McCain seems to have allowed his presidential aspirations to water down his once fierce support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

"[Senator McCain] and Senator Kennedy were working on a comprehensive package ... and he's no longer, I gather, a co-sponsor of that," Dodd said. "It had some bipartisan momentum, and now, if you asked me who's on the other side today I couldn't name anybody at this point. Maybe there is someone, but not of the stature McCain brought to the debate."

Dodd said McCain's defection on the issue was critical because Congress needed to act now or risk years of inaction on the issue.

"The later you wait the harder it gets." Dodd said. "You've got a window here ... and the fear is if you wait much longer, then it won't happen before 2008 and with a new administration it probably wouldn't be one of the first items you bring up."

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