Memo to Sen. McCain: Just Win, Alright?

Imus was sorry to break the news to Senator John McCain today that his beloved Phoenix Suns would not beat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playoffs this year. Thankfully, Imus was more optimistic about another battle in which McCain, the Republican Senator from Arizona, has much more at stake.

“You have to win,” Imus encouraged his longtime friend, who is facing a tough reelection battle this year against former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. “I’m not going to take you down to our level and disparage your opponent, but you’ve got to win!”

One of the key issues facing McCain is immigration reform, a notoriously hot button issue in Arizona. The Governor there recently passed a new, tough immigration law permitting police to question people they suspect of being illegal immigrants, and McCain supported the measure despite proposing a bill in the Senate five years ago that would have established a worker visa program and, some say, paved a road to amnesty.

As for whether his position has since changed from what was laid out in that bill, McCain said he has always insisted that securing the borders come first. “The bill also focused on that,” he told Imus. “The differences in the last few years is the border violence, and the drug cartels, and the drug smuggling, and the human smuggling has dramatically increased. And the violence across the border on the other side is beyond description.”

With the LA Times reporting that 22,000 people in Mexico have been killed in drug cartel wars, McCain predicted it’s only a matter of time before murder also spills over the border.

“It is absolutely essential that we secure our borders first, and then move on to the other issues,” he continued. “I’m still for all the things you said—after we secure the borders.”

The difficulty in doing so, however, is linked to a lack of funding, like with almost everything else in this country. Despite intercepting 1.2 million pounds of marijuana and apprehending 241,000 illegal immigrants on the Arizona-Mexico border, wildlife refuges there are being destroyed, and there is a pervasive insecurity among Arizonans.

Imus wondered how the new Arizona law, which McCain described as “basically federal law,” will prevent police from racially profiling potentially innocent people.

“I’ve talked to the majority of law enforcement people in Arizona,” said McCain. “They feel they can carry out this law…and not violate anyone’s rights by doing so. They have a lot of work to do, and they’re not going to seek someone out just because they look like they’re Hispanic.”

Invoking the wisdom of—who else?—Kinky Friedman, Imus suggested McCain look into securing the borders by hiring illegal immigrants to secure it. Oh, and one more idea: “Get a wall built,” said Imus. “And win the election!”

-Julie Kanfer