John McCain shifts his message toward Latino immigrants
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John McCain, angling to win a bigger share of the fast-growing Latino vote, is taking the risky step of placing an immigration overhaul at the center of his appeal, write the Times’ Peter Wallsten and Maeve Reston from Washington.
The presumed Republican presidential nominee, who trails Barack Obama among Latinos and was recently in Mexico City and Colombia, had been focused on assuring conservatives that securing the U.S. border with Mexico would be his top immigration priority.
But McCain has adopted a message that gives equal weight to helping employers and immigrant workers and their families. That suggests that as president he would back the kind of legislation that has roiled many in his party -- most notably, a legalization plan for undocumented workers.
-- Deborah Bonello in Los Angeles