McCain ads in Western states celebrate Latinos

Senator John McCain campaigned at a steel-construction company's new headquarters yesterday in Hudson, Wis. (Carolyn Kaster/associated press)

WASHINGTON - In a new ad targeted at the battleground states of the West, John McCain is presenting himself as a champion of Latino immigrants while disrupting the delicate balance - defending the contributions of illegal Latino immigrants while demanding a secure border to prevent the arrival of new ones - he had sought on the issue.

"So let's from time to time remember that these are God's children. They must come into the country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them," McCain says in a clip from a Republican-primary debate in June 2007 in which he celebrated the sacrifice of Latinos to the US military.

Immigration has generally been presented as a zero-sum game for McCain: an embrace of legalization efforts supported by Latino voters could jeopardize his appeal to members of his own party and the socially conservative, working-class white Democrats he is trying to woo. McCain has repeatedly attributed early problems he encountered with primary voters to his work on a failed immigration-reform bill.

The ad, scheduled to air in Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, shows a slight shift of emphasis from McCain. It doesn't include the "secure our borders first" line that has become a crucial part of McCain's latest formulation on immigration reform: He would seek a version of his previous bill, which included a temporary-worker program and a legalization process, but recognizes that a secure border would be necessary to gather the political will.

SASHA ISSENBERG

Candidates might consider VP pick from another party
With John McCain and Barack Obama each making a special effort to attract voters from the opposing party, the veep-stakes contest is especially interesting this cycle.

For McCain, some speculate that he might pick Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2000 who has since abandoned his party to become one of McCain's biggest boosters.

For Obama, the Republican name most often floated is Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who is conservative on some issues but has become an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war.

Look for the Hagel buzz to increase after today's report in The Wall Street Journal that he will join Obama on a trip to Iraq. Obama and Hagel donning flak jackets together will provide more grist for the rumor mill.

SCOTT HELMAN

Obama outpaces McCain's fund-raising total for June
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama raised more than $30 million last month, outpacing John McCain by $10 million, Robert Gibbs, spokesman for the Illinois senator, said yesterday.

Obama took in $22 million during May, which included $21.2 million for the primaries. The Illinois senator said last month that he would raise money privately for the general election, becoming the first major-party candidate to reject federal funding since the post-Watergate campaign finance law took effect.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, said Thursday the Arizona senator raised $22 million in June, his biggest fund-raising month ever.

McCain is taking $84.1 million in federal funds for the general election, so the money he raises now must be spent before the Republican National Convention in September.

BLOOMBERG

Obama answers GOP attack on his remarks on language
DAYTON, Ohio - Barack Obama batted away conservative criticism yesterday over a comment he made about Americans' lack of foreign language skills.

"The Republicans jumped on this. I said, absolutely immigrants need to learn English, but we also need to learn foreign languages," Obama said. "This is an example of some of the problems we get into when somebody attacks you for saying the truth, which is: We should want our children with more knowledge."

At issue was a remark he made Tuesday in Powder Springs, Ga., where Obama said he doesn't understand people who say "we need English only."

ASSOCIATED PRESS