Aspen – GOP presidential candidate John McCain poked fun at his faltering campaign Wednesday, but on a serious note disclosed that he has received death threats for his stand on illegal immigration.
During a speech before The Aspen Institute, a public-policy forum, McCain said he has no intention of changing his position on illegal immigrants, even though it has hurt him in the polls and angered anti-immigration groups.
“I have never seen an issue that has inflamed the passions of the American people the way the issue of immigration reform has, ever, including Iraq. I have never heard such rhetoric. We have never received death threats before like I received. It is unbelievable how this has inflamed the passions of the American people,” the Arizona senator told a mostly packed tent.
McCain said he believes the nation needs comprehensive reform and that he won’t back down on a temporary- worker program for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S. In an interview after the meeting, he refused to elaborate on the death threats, saying he couldn’t talk about it.
McCain acknowledged the issue has cost him votes – along with his support for the Iraq war – but he refused to back down.
“We’ve taken some setbacks, and I know one of the questions is going to be on the issue of immigration reform. That has probably caused great difficulties, but look, I’ve got to do what I know is right for this country. These issues I have to take head-on,” he said.
McCain drew laughs when he poked fun at his faltering poll numbers after he finished 10th in the Iowa Straw Poll.
He noted that a number of candidates from Arizona have run for president and not won, including Barry Goldwater and Morris Udall.
“Arizona may be the only state in America where mothers don’t tell their children that some day they can grow up to be president of the United States,” he said.
McCain said that when he lost to President Bush in the 2000 primary, “I slept like a baby – sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours and wake up and cry.” He said that in 1999, he had an approval rating of 3 percent in a poll with a 5 percentage point margin of error, which meant he started the race at minus 2 percent.
The senator said that every campaign has problems and that he had to fire staff members. He said he took responsibility for not keeping track of spending, forcing him to cut back on his campaign.
