McCain Dismises DREAM Act Supporter

The DREAM Act is set for an important vote in the US Senate today. Majority leader Harry Ried plans to bring up the act for a cloture vote, but he faces a stiff Republican opposition. 42 Republican senators have said they’ll vote against the measure. Some of those opposing Republican senators are against the order of legislation as presented. They’d rather address things like spending and taxes before they tackle any form of immigration. Others are opposed to the DREAM Act in substance.

But you have to wonder about people like Sen. John McCain, who not too long ago was a strong proponent of the DREAM Act – to the extent of giving hugs and making promises to DREAM Act supporters (not that hugs and promises are unexpected politician behavior).

A recent post in the Huffington Post details the alleged experience of one such supporter. McCain supporter Gaby Pacheco asked the senator for help in her family’s deportation case, as well as support for the DREAM Act. McCain promised he’d help, hugged her and told her he thought the DREAM Act was the right thing to do, and that he’d do right. “I’m going to fight for this,” he said. Pacheco put McCain signs on her lawn and campaigned for him.

All that changed a few weeks ago. From the Huffington Post:

“A few days before the Senate left for the Thanksgiving break, Pacheco met the new McCain when she tried to lobby him on the DREAM Act, the bill he’d once championed.
When Pacheco approached McCain, she said, he dismissed her and threatened to call the Capitol Police on her if she continued to follow him. As he entered an elevator, the DREAM Act supporters told the senator that all they want is to serve their country.
‘Go serve them then,’ McCain told them, according to Pacheco.”

McCain’s people say the senator didn’t threaten to call the police, and that they were not aware the he told the protesters “go serve them.”

We’ll keep and eye on the cloture vote and let you know how it goes.