Conservative crowd boos McCain on immigration; cheers warning to Iran, 'no earmarks' pledge Republican presidential favorite Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., at which fellow candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) also spoke, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, who (as RAW STORY earlier reported) steered clear of directly commenting on McCain's front-runner status.
McCain's speech was an overt attempt to appeal to rankled conservatives concerned with his sometimes moderate Senate voting record. Criticism of McCain from the far right has grown as the Republican nomination seems more and more within his reach.
Acknowledging his critics, McCain said, "Surely, I have held ... positions that have not met with widespread agreement from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise, nor would you permit me to forget it." The remark drew laughter from the crowd.
 "On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which..." McCain began to say before the audience heartily booed and then cheered, "a position which obviously still provokes the outspoken opposition of many conservatives, I stood my ground, aware that my position would imperil my campaign.
"I respect your opposition," continued McCain, "for I know that the vast majority of critics to the bill base their opposition in a principled defense of the rule of law. ... I have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first." He repeated his promise to loud applause.
"I will stand on my convictions, my conservative convictions," McCain stressed, "and trust in the good sense of the voters, and in my confidence, that conservative principles still appeal to a majority of Americans, Republicans, independents, and Reagan Democrats." He was again answered favorably by the audience.
Using a deliberately incorrect term favored by President Bush to describe the party on the left, McCain said, "Whoever the Democrat [sic] nominee is, they would govern this country in a way that will, in my opinion, take this country backward to the days when government felt empowered to take from us our freedom to decide for ourselves the course and quality of our lives..." He then criticized Senate Democrats for the "shameful and dangerous" blocking of the controversial extension of surveillance legislation known as FISA, a denunciation which drew sustained applause.
The Arizona senator also accused Democratic opponents Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama of wanting to increase the size of government, which McCain says he intends to reduce. He also proclaimed to cheers, "I will not sign a bill with earmarks in it, any earmarks in it."
Addressing the war in Iraq, McCain charged that Clinton and Obama "will withdraw our forces from Iraq based on an arbitrary timetable designed for the sake of political expediency and which recklessly ignores the profound human calamity and dire threats to our security that would ensue."
He then talked about Iran, again decrying his adversaries: "Those senators won't recognize and seriously address the threat posed by an Iran with nuclear ambitions to our ally Israel in the region.
"I intend," he continued, "to make unmistakably clear to Iran: we will not permit a government that espouses the destruction of the state of Israel as its fondest wish, and pledges undying emnity to the United States, to possess the weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions," a declaration that again drew loud applause.
 
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