McCain Tests Wings as Border Hawk

Locked in a death struggle with immigration uber-hawk JD Hayworth, McCain has become a kind of born-again illegal immigration foe, loudly supporting enhanced border security, and Arizona's tough new illegal immigration law, the Washington Times reports. “We do have an obligation to secure our borders so that our citizens are not threatened,” he said in a recent interview. “Now our job is to make sure that no citizen will have their rights threatened, no matter what their ethnic background.”

The flip wasn't lost on Hayworth, who fired off two YouTube videos contrasting McCain's past remarks supporting amnesty with his new-found hawkishness. “One senator. One man. So many different opinions,” he quips in one. But if the flip doesn't win over hawks, it won't cost him Hispanics either. “He's still 10,000 times better than Hayworth,” said the head of an Hispanic Republican group. McCain's comments “hurt us, but we'll hold our nose and vote for him.” (More John McCain stories.)