McCain’s Risky Latin America Trip
The Republican presidential candidate just completed a trip through Latin America that had The Washington Post asking, “Why is John McCain in Colombia?” McCain has his own answer, but some saw the trip as a risky gambit.
McCain, as I wrote recently, is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to emphasizing his foreign policy strengths or the economy, on which he is weaker but that voters care more about right now. On that count, this trip could further enhance his foreign policy experience, but the Post notes: “McCain could not have made this trip because he needs to burnish his foreign policy credentials,” because he already has the advantage there. Barack Obama’s planned overseas visit is certainly for that reason.
In many areas of Latin American policy, the two men are alike. Could the trip be about trade? Perhaps, but in that regard, the U.S. public is very divided about free trade agreements. Could the trip be about immigration? Maybe, but McCain’s stance against an immigration bill he once helped negotiate has put him in a strange position, caught between Hispanic voters and those on the anti-immigration right.
And while many have interpreted the trip as an attempt by McCain to curry favor with Hispanic voters, that very immigration position has probably cost him at least compared to Obama, whose views are closer to those McCain once held that were more forgiving of illegal immigrants in the country now.
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Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 5:31 pm under