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Campaign Issues: A year after comprehensive immigration reform failed, John McCain and Barack Obama are treating the issue with kid gloves | Mark Bergin

One year ago, John McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination teetered on the edge of irrelevant. The Arizona senator, initially considered the GOP favorite, had plummeted to single digits in national polls and rumors were swirling of a premature exit before a single primary vote was cast. The reason: comprehensive immigration reform.

More specifically, McCain's work with Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts to concoct a bill granting paths to citizenship for the country's 12 million illegal immigrants had so infuriated the Republican base that some conservatives suggested Hillary Clinton would make a better president. Even amid such rancor and despite the consequence of apparent political suicide, McCain pushed hard for the bill's passage.