No apology needed for chimichanga tweet

A tweet about a chimichanga and Latino voters by Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager, has Republican leaders in Washington crying foul.

There’s just one problem with their cries of liberal racism — the offensive portion of Messina’s tweet was a  partial quote from a speech Sen. John McCain gave on the floor of the U.S. Senate. That quote ended up in an article by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank before ending up on Messina’s twitter.

“Line of the day from WAPO’s Dana Milbank: ‘The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos’,” Messina tweeted.

Milbank’s column, “Does the GOP care about Latino voters,” describes the GOP’s failed attempts at courting Latino voters due to their harsh anti-immigration rhetoric and the wave of Arizona-style immigration laws their party has made a habit of passing.

Milbank also mentions how Senate Republicans unnecessarily stalled the confirmation of Cuban-born Adalberto Jose Jordan to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Jordan was eventually confirmed, making him the first Cuban-born judge to serve on the court, but that was not without unnecessary filibustering and vote delaying by Senate Republicans.

McCain used the delay in voting as an opportunity to brag to other senators about Arizona, his home state.

“The Lettuce in your salad this month almost certainly came from Arizona,” McCain said. “It’s also believed that the chimichanga has its origin in Arizona.”

When Milbank wrote, “The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos,” he was commenting on the fact that Senate Republicans cared so little about Jordan’s historic nomination they were willing to postpone it for over three days.

Instead of discussing Jordan’s confirmation, McCain decided to talk about his state’s creation of the chimichanga — that was all he and fellow Republicans had to offer to Latino voters.