TITLE: God's Children
LENGTH: 60 seconds
AIRING: Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico
SCRIPT: McCain, addressing immigration at a Republican primary debate on June 5, 2007, in New Hampshire: My friends, I want you the next time you're down in Washington, D.C., to go to the Vietnam War Memorial and look at the names engraved in black granite. You'll find a whole lot of Hispanic names.
When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you're going to see a whole lot of people who are of Hispanic background. You're even going to meet some of the few thousand that are still green card holders who are not even citizens of this country, who love this country so much that they're willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship and enjoy the bountiful, blessed nation.
So let's from time to time remember that these are God's children. They must come into country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them. Thank you. (Applause)
KEY IMAGES: As McCain speaks a series of photographs of the Vietnam and Korean war memorials appear on the screen. Superimposed are the phrases Look at the Names and Green card holders defending America and Love of this country. The ad then picks up with video of McCain continuing his remarks at the debate as his Republican rivals and the audience look on.
ANALYSIS: By emphasizing patriotism in a pro-immigrant message, McCain is making a direct appeal to Hispanic and Latino voters without highlighting his past support for overhauling immigration laws. After all, immigration is one of those issues that gets McCain in trouble with conservative voters. Last year, McCain supported legislation that would have given a path to citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States. The legislation also called for securing the nation's borders. But the bill ultimately failed, freighted by criticism that its provisions for undocumented workers amounted to amnesty.
McCain's support for the legislation was partly responsible for his campaign's tailspin last summer that nearly crippled his candidacy.
After the immigration bill's defeat last year, McCain began to stress the need for border security. He has argued that the public would not accept overall changes in immigration law without Congress first enacting laws to stanch the flow of illegal immigrants.
McCain Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has criticized McCain for backing away from his commitment to the legislation that McCain and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., helped draft. McCain and his allies, in turn, criticize Obama for supporting labor-backed amendments to the legislation that would have undermined its chance for Senate approval.
Aides on Friday held a teleconference with Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican who supported the immigration legislation. The ad, however, is not running in Florida, which has a large Hispanic population.
But if the ad does not address McCain's work with Kennedy on the bill, Martinez did: Not only is Sen. McCain clear in what his purpose was during the immigration effort, he was at the genesis of it. He led the origins of this efforts, which is why the bill was called the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill. He has been for comprehensive immigration reform.
Martinez slammed Obama for his votes on amendments that he said were poison pills that would have doomed the legislation. In a letter to Obama dated June 28, 2007, however, Martinez offered praise to Obama. I know that standing firm in the face of extreme pressure has not been easy, and again, I thank you, Martinez wrote. The letter was first reported by Politico.
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Analysis by Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn
