Immigration Debate Follows Mccain To Campaign Stop In Iowa

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain has a message for critics of the immigration compromise he helped devise. <br/><br/>``I respect your disagreement, but what's your

Saturday, June 2nd 2007, 2:59 pm

By: News On 6

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain has a message for critics of the immigration compromise he helped devise.

``I respect your disagreement, but what's your proposal?'' McCain said Saturday.

``If people who are running for president of the United States don't agree with this proposal, what's your proposal? ... The status quo is not acceptable,'' he told reporters.

McCain's comments came after a town hall event at a golf course in Le Mars, in northwest Iowa. Speaking to about 150 people, McCain dealt with questions about Iraq, government spending, health care and immigration.

The Arizona senator went back and forth with one man who said he did not think the immigration proposal was tough enough and that the government was not enforcing current laws.

``The old rules are not workable and enforceable,'' McCain said. ``We've certainly proved that over the last 20 years.''

Congress ``failed you,'' McCain said. ``We passed a law in 1986 that said we'd give amnesty to some people and now we have 12 million more'' illegal immigrants.

McCain later headed to the Blue Bunny ice cream shop _ a signature of Le Mars, which proudly calls itself the ice cream capital of the world.

It was where one of his GOP rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, stopped this past week. Both Romney and McCain ordered chocolate shakes during their visit. McCain's had whipped cream and a cherry on top; Romney's did not.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Iraq was the dominant issue for Democratic presidential candidates at the state party's convention Saturday.

Ahead of their nationally televised debate Sunday night from New Hampshire, Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson each told delegates he had the diplomatic solution to the war.

``The only way which you can have a prospect of ending a self-sustaining cycle of sectarian violence is to separate the combatants and give them a political way forward,'' said Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Added Dodd: ``Instead of talking about a surge in military power, how about a surge in diplomacy.''

Kucinich, whose campaign signs feature a peace sign, said, ``Peace is inevitable if we have a president who is willing.''

Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador, spoke of an ambitious to-do list as president. ``First. Day one _ announce that America is going to get out of Iraq,'' he said. ``How do we do that? With diplomacy.''

Kucinich won hearty applause when he took a swipe at the vice president.

``It is time to impeach Vice President Cheney,'' he shouted as the crowd whistled, cheered, clapped and got to its feet. Kucinich has introduced articles of impeachment against Cheney over the Iraq war.

``That's why I'm going to carry New Hampshire,'' Kucinich said later to reporters. ``The response you see today is the response I'm getting all over the country. I'm just waiting to be discovered by you.''

The three leading Democratic candidates _ Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards _ did not attend the convention.