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While there is still no concrete proof that the murder of a Southern Arizona rancher over the weekend was the work of an illegal immigrant, Senator John McCain wants to call in the National Guard to defend the Arizona/Mexico border.
Looks like all is fair in a conservative standoff.
McCain, who once enraged conservative voters with his support of comprehensive immigration reform, is currently in the middle of a heated primary campaign against a staunch conservative, former Congressman J.D. Hayworth.
Hayworth, who has the support of the anti-immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, is trying to appeal to conservative voters by saying McCain is soft on immigration.
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Yesterday, Hayworth’s campaign said, “One of the reasons Hayworth is challenging John McCain is because of McCain’s past sponsorship of legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal aliens.”
Looks like McCain just upped the ante.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, McCain writes, “I am asking you and the administration to immediately reconsider your position and send National Guard troops to our southern border region.”
Yesterday, Hayworth seemed to jump the gun by pinning the murder on an illegal immigrant without any real evidence.
We’re not saying he’s wrong — there’s certainly evidence suggesting the murderer may have been a Mexican national.
Yesterdatm we contacted the McCain campaign (which is often quick to get back to us) thinking “The Maverick” would want to pounce on his opponent’s apparent rush to judgement. We never heard back, and now we know why — McCain had the National Guard up his sleeve.
Today, the McCain camp tells New Times that the murder of the rancher just reiterates what McCain has been trying to do for a while.
“Putting National Guard on the border is something Senator McCain has advocated for an extended period of time — well before this terrible tragedy — to confront the spike in violence along our border,” says spokesman Brian Rogers, .
