I must begin this post with a disclaimer that I have no intention to malign anyone’s character. I simply want to chip away the layers of gloss and splattered mud to see the truth about the so-called “presumptive” Republican nominee. Who is this man? What is his record? How does he compare to Mike Huckabee on the issues?

Many conservatives “hold their nose” when it comes to Senator McCain because of his stance on illegal immigration. Let’s take a look at what he himself has said about illegal immigration:

On Amnesty, to a Tuscon newspaper, 2003

“Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a component of it… I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that we have some control over people who come in and out of this country…”

On Amnesty, at the end of a 2006 Senate debate

(Illegals have) “grasped the lowest rung of our ladder. They want to rise, and we should let them. Let them come out of the shadows, pay a fine, stay employed, pay taxes, and earn their citizenship.”

However, he said something different at the New Hampshire debate last year:

“I have never, ever supported amnesty and never will.”

About a border fence, in an interview with Vanity Fair, McCain said:

“In the short term, it (the debate over his failed immigration bill) probably galvanizes our base,” he said. “In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you’ll pay a heavy price.” Then he added, unable to help himself, “By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the g**damned fence if they want it.”

More about the border fence, from his presidential campaign website (minus the profanity):

“I have always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure.”

Just who IS the federal government? According to the US Constitution, the federal government is made up of the executive, judicial, and LEGISLATIVE branches of government. Which of the two Republican candidates has been a part of said federal government for eons? Not Mike Huckabee. Sounds like McCain is saying that HE has “utterly failed” in HIS responsibility to secure the border.

I respectfully diagree with Senator McCain when he said he never supported amnesty. Let’s call an orange an orange instead of smiling and telling everyone it’s an apple. I could respect his opinions more if I got the sense that he was truly convicted in them. Rather than “straight talking” the American people, Senator McCain seems to rely on his staffers to tell him what the conservative base wants to hear.

An example of the Senator’s unease with conservatives came in an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball back in February 2007. The topic was gay marriage. According to the article in Vanity Fair, McCain said one thing, and then during the commercial break his political strategist, John Weaver, ran up and whispered to him. In the next segment McCain asked to clarify his answer on the gay marriage issue — and promptly did a 180.

Before Weaver’s Whisper

“I think that gay marriage should be allowed, if there’s a ceremony kind of thing, if you want to call it that…I don’t have any problem with that, but I do believe in preserving the sanctity of the union between man and woman.”

After Weaver’s Whisper

“Could I just mention one other thing? On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe if people want to have private ceremonies, that’s fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.”

After the interview, Senator McCain ran over to Weaver and asked, “Did I fix it? Did I fix it?”

What does the real, off-the-cuff John McCain think? Does it matter? His waffling on these issues makes it very difficult for me to believe that HE BELIEVES what he’s saying. It’s as if I’m standing in a nursery, looking at a tree obviously loaded with peaches, whose label states it is an orange tree.

From Luke 6:
44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Yet another example of McCain’s “conservaliberalism” is the creation and funding of his Reform Institute. The McCain campaign’s “Hispanic Outreach Director,” Juan Hernandez, is also a fellow of McCain’s Reform Institute. According to Michelle Malkin’s blog, one of Mr. Hernandez’s latest projects was an art contest whereby children drew their protests against a border fence. How can McCain say that he supports a border fence when his Hispanic Outreach Director actively sponsors art projects in which children depict their angst at such a fence? Does this make any sense to anyone else?

What exactly is the Reform Institute? Well, it’s a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization formed in 2001 to support the McCain-Feingold law (remember the law that limits the amounts of money private citizens can spend to support their candidates but allows those who are individually wealthy to use as much of their own money as they want?). The institute also employs McCain’s chief political advisor, Rick Davis as a consultant for $110K a year. The Institute has bankrolled many events that highlight McCain and his agenda. Who funds the Reform Institute? Prepare to be surprised…

• The Tides Foundation gives money to the institute. They also happen to be a very heavy-handed pro-abortion activist group and have given over $500,000 to the pro-abortion cause.
• The Educational Foundation of America. This group supports nearly every left-wing cause available, including abortion rights, assisted suicide rights, opposes drilling in ANWR, etc.
• The Proteus Fund. This group has given over $935,000 in support of gay marriage rights. They also are anti-war to the tune of over $800,000.
• The Open Society Institute. This group founded by George Soros supports open-border causes like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Immigration Law Center.

Why is that significant? It goes back to the fruit on the tree. The Reform Institute was founded by Senator McCain to bring “transparency” to the federal government election laws. Then why does it accept money from backers that also support highly “left-wing” causes? For those readers who say that just because he founded it doesn’t mean he has anything to do with it, think again. Cablevision gave the institute $200,000. Guess what McCain did after that? Mr. “No Pork Barrell Politics” wrote a letter to the FCC on behalf of Cablevision.

Again, take a hard, long look at that tree. What bill would he sign as President? If the Tides Foundation deposited a pretty million in his Reform Institute just as an important piece of legislation requiring informed consent before abortions came across his desk, would he sign it? Or veto it? It’s hard to know. Maybe he’s been in Washington so long that he’s been a victim of cross pollination and doesn’t have a true stance on any of the conservative issues.

Mike Huckabee, on the other hand, is not a Washington insider. He is a conservative’s conservative, and he is the only presidential candidate still standing who has actually run a country before. Well, the “country” of Arkansas, that is! There is a sincerity in Mike Huckabee that is rarely seen among those in Washington. On the border fence, he’s promised to build it in 120 days. He knows — as we all do, deep down — that there is NOTHING Americans can’t do (including building the fence and becoming energy independent) when they bind together. He has the vision — and the gift — of inspiring us to be better than we are today. You know exactly what you’re getting when you hear Mike Huckabee…pure conservatism with an abundance of compassion.

But don’t take my word for it: watch some of Huckabee’s speech to CPAC. Listen to him talk about the sanctity of life and securing our borders. Even if you don’t agree with him, you will agree that he really does mean what he says. He won’t be running off stage asking his strategist: “Did I fix it?”

How can Huckabee win the nomination? By blocking McCain’s gathering of delegates. If McCain doesn’t reach 1191, then the decision will be made at a brokered convention. I believe that conservatives…and moderates…who hear Huckabee speak will come away understanding that he is THE conservative choice.