03/24/2011
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ, with a D+ recent voting grade) has been a long-time friend of illegal alien amnesty for millions, aka "comprehensive reform" in the Orwellian newspeak that is now the norm in Washington.However, he is "repositioning" himself on border enforcement now that he envisions himself as Arizona’s next Senator, with the retirement of Jon Kyl in 2012. Flake hopes to emulate the successful campaign strategy of flip-flopper extraordinaire John McCain, who convinced voters that he actually wanted to "build the dang fence" and enforce the border after being Ted Kennedy’s best friend on amnesty for years. (For a refresher, see The Ongoing John McCain Sage: How the Worm Turns.)
Now that he is safely re-elected, McCain openly admits that border enforcement is a mere precursor before his important issue of rewarding millions of foreign lawbreakers with US citizenship. He reiterated that position during a March 21 interview with Greta Van Susteren.
MCCAIN: JON KYL and I have a plan which we know, if it’s implemented, would get our borders secured. And then we must move on to the next pressing issue, which is comprehensive immigration reform. We can do it, Greta. We can secure our border with sufficient personnel, fences and surveillance capability.Of all the multitude of problems now facing this nation, McCain believes mass amnesty is "pressing."
Politicians don’t even pretend they are not engaging in a political flip-flop, and count on amnesia among voters who should know better.
Flake’s convenient conversion was too blatant to be missed, even among beltway denizens at The Hill.
Rep. Flake focuses on border as Senate primary looms, The Hill, March 23, 2011After years of supporting immigration reform, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has started emphasizing a border-security-first approach as he makes a run for Senate.
Flake’s views on a guest-worker program and other immigration issues were considered his main vulnerability in a GOP Senate primary. But after watching Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) successfully tack to the right during his primary fight last year, Flake is now following that playbook.
"In the past I have supported a broad approach to immigration reform — increased border security coupled with a temporary worker program. I no longer do," Flake said in a statement published by the Arizona Republic.
"I've been down that road, and it is a dead end. The political realities in Washington are such that a comprehensive solution is not possible, or even desirable given the current leadership. Border security must be addressed before other reforms are tackled."
The congressman made similar remarks to The Ballot Box when asked about the immigration issue.
"You've got to have some mechanism that deals with those who are here illegally," he said in February.
"We dealt with it before with a provision that required them to go home and register. But everything like that is on hold until we have better border security."
Flake could face former Rep. J.D. Hayworth or Rep. Trent Franks in the GOP primary, both of whom would look for space on the lawmaker’s right flank. — — During McCain’s primary against Hayworth last year, the senator parried attacks on his past support for immigration reform by repositioning himself as a border hawk.
The senator even released a widely mocked TV ad wherein he walked along a border fence. In McCain’s "danged fence" ad, as it became known, he called for the completion of a border barrier that he had previously criticized.
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