The American Spectator

Philip, pardon me for registering a profoundly skeptical reaction to your assessment of John McCain as “the only electable candidate in [the GOP] once Rudy Giuliani’s post-9/11 popularity vanished.”

Both McCain and Giuliani are 180 degrees out of phase with conservatives on the issue of illegal immigration. The GOP elite loves open borders, but outside the NY/DC Republican Establishment, support for McCain’s amnesty/”guest workers” policy is political poison. It’s certainly a deal-breaker for blue-collar cultural conservatives in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia — the very same swing voters in swing states who should otherwise be “in play” because of Obama’s nomination.

McCain will speak to La Raza in July, indicating he still doesn’t realize how vastly unpopular his immigration stance is in Middle America. And that’s to say nothing of McCain’s Green moves. By pushing pet policies of the elite, the Republican nominee is neutralizing whatever advantage he might have gained from Obama’s own elitism.