During an interview with McCain campaign manager Rick Davis on the September 5 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe in which Davis touted Sen. John McCain as differing from his party in his support for immigration reform, at no point did NBC News political director Chuck Todd note that McCain reversed himself on a key component of immigration reform, aligning himself more closely with the base of his party.

Todd asked Davis if he is “worried the numbers are showing that Senator McCain is performing worse among Hispanics than President Bush,” and added moments later: “He is not getting votes that his record deserves.” Davis replied, in part: “Look what we did as a party. For the last two years, we've told Hispanic voters that we don't want immigration from the southern border. ... There's been a nativist discussion in this country that has hurt our party's ability to attract Hispanic voters.” Todd then asked, “Anything to change it?” Davis replied: “The only one in our party who can do that and set it right is John McCain.” However, at no point during the discussion did Todd mention that, under pressure from the Republican base, McCain reversed himself on a key component of immigration reform, and now says that “we've got to secure the borders first” -- a position at odds with his prior assertion that border security could not be disaggregated from other aspects of comprehensive immigration reform without being rendered ineffective. A November 4, 2007, Associated Press article reporting on McCain's reversal noted that McCain now “emphasizes securing the borders first,” and also quoted McCain stating: “I understand why you would call it a, quote, shift. ... I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people's priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders.” McCain also stated during a January 30 Republican presidential primary debate that he would not support the immigration reform bill he co-sponsored with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) if it came to a vote on the Senate floor.

In a March 3 New York Times article, Elisabeth Bumiller wrote, “Senator John McCain likes to present himself as the candidate of the 'Straight Talk Express' who does not pander to voters or change his positions with the political breeze. But the fine print of his record in the Senate indicates that he has been a lot less consistent on some of his signature issues than he has presented himself to be so far in his presidential campaign.” On immigration, Bumiller wrote:

Mr. McCain has also moved from his original position on immigration. In 2005, he joined forces with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, to co-sponsor an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. Although the legislation included toughening border security, its center was a provision that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Conservatives immediately branded the bill as amnesty and fired steadily at Mr. McCain. After seeing his campaign and his fund-raising efforts derail last summer -- which his advisers attributed in large part to his position on immigration -- Mr. McCain now says that he got the message from voters. These days he speaks almost exclusively about border security, although he does say that it is not possible to deport 12 million illegal immigrants and that he would never deport the mother of a soldier serving in Iraq.

Additionally, in a June 20 Politico piece, journalist Gebe Martinez reported on McCain's reversal on immigration:

McCain, the Arizona senator, dismayed Latinos last year when he stepped back from his immigration bill that would have tightened the borders and legalized undocumented immigrants. As boos and hisses from angry Republican conservatives grew louder at campaign events, he switched course and vowed to “first” secure the borders. Were his failed bill to come up again, he would not vote for it, he said.

[...]

Trying to regain Latino support, McCain has chastised Republicans who stoke the fires of the immigration at election time. And at a private meeting with Chicago-area Latinos last week, he promised to push for a comprehensive immigration bill.

“It sounds like he's trying to have it both ways, and it's not convincing anyone,” said Frank Sharry, who also was involved in immigration bill negotiations when he headed the National Immigration Forum.

This is not the McCain Hispanics thought they knew. Even after the 2001 terrorist attacks placed an emphasis on national security, McCain's speeches to Latino audiences and on the Senate floor prioritized the compassionate side of the immigration argument.

He understood that border security “first” means “deportation only” in the eyes of immigrant activists, and he championed a broader approach.

As the Senate mulled immigration in 2006, McCain often stood in the Capitol's corridors, pounding his fist in the air, arguing that border enforcement would not work without simultaneously penalizing employers who hire workers illegally, creating a temporary worker program and finding a way to bring 12 million illegal immigrants “out of the shadows” of society.

“It won't work! It won't work!” he protested of suggestions to do enforcement first. The stool cannot stand on one leg.

As Media Matters noted, on the February 14 edition of Morning Joe, Todd asserted that McCain is a “moderate,” even though McCain has reversed his position on immigration and other issues to align himself with the base of the Republican Party.

From the September 5 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

TODD: Rick, last night -- last night in Senator McCain's speech, I saw him use the word “Latina.” He was talking about a Latina woman, trying to -- it was the first time all week that I had seen your party even remotely talk about the Hispanics or even reach out to the Hispanic vote. Are you worried the numbers are showing that Senator McCain is performing worse among Hispanics than President Bush? And maybe this is a party problem.

DAVIS: Well, sure --

TODD: But how do you carry Colorado and New Mexico and Nevada with underperforming President Bush on Hispanics?

DAVIS: Oh, look, we don't want to underperform anybody on Hispanics. John McCain is -- for his entire career --

TODD: Well, that's right. There's no question his record --

DAVIS: -- has gotten more Hispanic votes than any other candidate in the country.

TODD: He's not getting votes that his record deserves.

DAVIS: But look what we did. Look what we --

TODD: In this case --

DAVIS: -- did as a party. For the last two years, we've told Hispanic voters that we don't want immigration from the southern border, that we don't -- and, you know what? The message, you can't bifurcate it. It's not just legal immigration and illegal immigration.

TODD: They're not hearing it, and that's been the problem. They're not hearing that.

DAVIS: There's been a nativist discussion in this country that has hurt our party's ability to attract Hispanic voters.

TODD: Anything to change it?

DAVIS: The only one in our party who can do that and set it right is John McCain.

TODD: Why didn't he talk about it more last night or through this convention?

DAVIS: Well, look, I mean, we had some great people at the convention talking about it -- Tommy Espinoza, who is Jimmy McCain's godfather, someone who John McCain has done all kinds of good works with. You know, a former CEO of La Raza was a speaker at our convention. He's not what you call a rock-ribbed Republican.

You look at our speakers at our convention and we had a lot of people who are not Republicans come and talk to our convention. And I think the message that our convention gave is the kind of message that the McCain administration is going to give, and that is party labels don't give you access. What you -- gives you access is whether you're going to put your country first, set aside your own partisan interests, and do good for the country.