PHOENIX -- Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Monday met with Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and-- after previously saying it was a joke -- said the concept of an electrified border fence is still on the table.
Cain, a Stockbridge resident, met with Arpaio, a well known figure in the fight against illegal immigration and both spoke to reporters at Arpaio's downtown office. Immigration is a huge issue in the Republican primary and Arizona is at the fore of the debate. Cain is the latest GOP presidential candidate to come and meet with Arpaio -- none have left with his endorsement.
Cain was nearly an hour late, however, after an Arpaio spokeswoman said Cain was "harassed" outside his Scottsdale hotel and delayed. Once at the news conference, Cain refused to provide details on the harassment.
"We received some information that caused us to improve our security on the way over here," Cain said. "It wasn’t so much open harassment." Arpaio's office would not provide further details.
Cain, whom a new poll showed to be in a statistical dead heat for the nomination, was asked several times Monday about his comments regarding a dangerous electrified fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and seemed to muddy the water on the issue. At a campaign stop in Tennessee on Saturday, Cain said he would build a border fence that is "electrocuted, electrified" with a sign on the Mexican side that says "it will kill you."
Cain said he was joking when asked about the comments Sunday and at first held that position Monday in Arizona.
"It was a joke," he said. "It’s probably not a joke you should make if you’re a presidential candidate. I apologized."
His comments have infuriated pro-immigrant groups.
"I don’t apologize for using a combination of a fence," he said later in the same news conference. "And it might be electrified. I’m not walking away from that. I just don’t want to offend anyone. I’m more sensitive to our citizens"
Arpaio introduced Cain, saying the two share similarities:
"He's controversial," Arpaio said. "He tells it like it is. Kind of like me."
The meeting with Arpaio allowed Cain to keep the spotlight on illegal immigration as he begins a swing through Arizona and Nevada.
Arizona is now ground zero in the debate over illegal immigration. Last year, the Grand Canyon State adopted tough new enforcement legislation, inspiring several other states – including Georgia -- to do the same. Parts of Arizona and Georgia’s laws are now tied up in federal court amid legal challenges.
Arpaio has become a lightening rod for his aggressive attack on illegal immigration, which has included raids in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. A federal grand jury is investigating him for alleged abuse of power. Cain, meanwhile, is the latest Republican candidate to seek the sheriff's approval. Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who was also in Arizona Monday, met with Arpaio last month.
Presidential Scholar and University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said that in meeting with Arpaio, Cain is "trying to buttress his anti-immigration bona fides" and further take advantage of [Texas Gov.] Rick Perry's problems with the issue. Perry has been criticized for his support for a policy that gives illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Texas colleges.
"There's no question that anti-immigration voters are a significant group in the GOP, and often they are one-issue voters,” Sabato said. “Cain went up in the polls because Perry went down. Cain has absorbed a good deal of the Republican Party that had hoped Perry was the great conservative hope. Now Cain has to keep them. "
Cain may find keeping opponents of illegal immigration on his side easier than explaining his views to a broader audience.
On Sunday, on NBC's Meet the Press, Cain said he wasn't serious about erecting an electrified fence on the Mexican border.
During a campaign stop Saturday in Tennessee, and at least once back in August, Cain said that if he's elected president he would build a 20-foot high fence along the border.
“It's going to have barbed wire on top. It's going to be electrocuted, electrified," Cain said, according to The Associated Press. "And there's going to be a sign on the other side that says it will kill you."
Cain said Sunday that he doesn't want to electrocute immigrants crossing the border illegally.
"That's a joke," Cain, a Stockbridge resident, said. "I've also said America needs to get a sense of humor. That was a joke, OK."
Still, Cain said he would use every resource to secure the border. "It'd be a combination of a physical fence, technology, and, in some terrible areas, we might have to put troops there," he said on NBC.
Cain's campaign did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, said Cain's comments were anything but humorous.
"I found the comments completely reprehensible," Gonzlaez said. "Given the rise in hate crimes against Latinos around the country, it is not a joking matter."
Kerwin Swint, a Kennesaw State University political scientist and former GOP consultant, said Cain's comments and the dust-ups they cause are part of his appeal.
"He does like to laugh," Swint said. "Part of Herman Cain's shtick has always been to say fairly outrageous things and arch his eyebrows as if to say, ‘this really isn't all that complicated, folks.'"
But now, Swint said, "everything he says is under the microscope. He should continue being who he is, but I think he does need to watch the comments a little bit."
Whether the joke is on Cain or those who question his words remains to be seen. But a new poll released Monday showed the former Godfather's Pizza CEO and Atlanta radio host essentially tied for the lead in the race for the GOP nomination.
The poll, conducted by CNN, gives Cain 25 percent support to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's 26 percent. But, with the margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, either candidate could be in the lead. While Romney and Cain both nearly double the 13 percent support for Perry, the poll also found that a full third of all Republicans have yet to make up their mind whom to support.
Staff writer Jeremy Redmon contributed to this report.
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