Some angry conservatives will tell you they have a good reason to call the Republican presidential candidate "Juan" McCain. He has alienated many conservative voters with his position on immigration, and he apparently plans to worsen the problem in July with a speech before the National Council of La Raza, the vociferously anti-American and leftist pro-immigration group.

As bad as the Democrats are when it comes this kind of blatant pandering, Republicans will, apparently, try their best. Problem is, pandering to radical Hispanics won't help McCain get to the White House, and may likely hurt him among those who will actually vote for him: conservatives opposed to illegal immigration.

For those in the dark, La Raza, which means "The Race," is a leftist Hispanic lobbying group that openly agitates for erasing our southern border, even as it abets the work of radical Mexican activists struggling for the reconquista, or reconquest, of the American Southwest for Mexico. Simply put, La Raza and its allies and votaries do not consider themselves Americans. In that, they are correct.

The name of this organization, — again, The Race — speaks for itself, and its activities speak even louder. Point is, if Mr. McCain believes dancing 'round La Raza's sombrero will win the Hispanic vote, he had better think again.

Not that the pandering stops there. It doesn't. It's bad enough that Mr. McCain has been snuggling with La Raza for years. He has also launched a Spanish language Web site, presumably to address all those "Latino" voters he hopes to persuade to vote for him.

Topping all that off, one of the McCain campaign's national committee members, Sen. Lindsay Graham, has frankly labeled those who oppose illegal immigration as racists. He closed a speech, also before La Raza, with these words: "We're going to tell the bigots to shut up."

Actually, Señor Graham ought to shut up, if only for Mr. McCain's sake, but in any event Mr. McCain's Spanish Web site and his speaking before La Raza are tactically consistent with his strategic view of immigration. He joined the bibulous senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, on the notorious immigration "reform" bill that went down in flames thanks to conservative voters who deluged Congress with angry phone calls and letters. Thus chastened, Mr. McCain claimed that he understood the issue, and that Americans showed him they want immediate immigration reform and border security efforts. But then he confessed he would, as president, sign a similar bill if it landed on his desk.

None of this is encouraging. Indeed, Mr. McCain's recalcitrance on this issue rather smacks of Sen. Barack Obama's elitism so perfectly expressed in the Democrat candidate's last two major speeches. If Mr. McCain wants to secure his conservative base, he had better get some religion on immigration, and that doesn't mean the religion proselytized by Mr. Graham and the racialist ministers of reconquista. Rather, Mr. McCain should cancel his speech and say "adios" to his amigos at La Raza.