Desperate people give desperate promises.

McCain is certainly scraping from the bottom.

He is pandering to illegal Irish immigrants.

McCain pledges amnesty for 50,000 illegal Irish immigrants.
In a town hall today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that as president, he would ensure that 50,000 “illegal” Irish immigrants residing in the United States could find a “path to citizenship:”

There are 50,000 Irish men and women who are in this country illegally at this time, who are hard-working people, who want to become citizens. And I want to assure you that we will enact comprehensive immigration reform, after they do certain things, obviously, give them a path to citizenship in this country as part of an overall immigration reform package.

McCain said that the United States has been “enriched” from “Irish, Italian, Pol[ish]” immigrants. He later included “our Hispanic citizenry” in his list.

He believes that he can balance the budget in 4 years.

Even With Costly Wall Street Bailout, McCain Still Claims He Will Balance The Budget By 2013
Last night during an interview with John Harwood on CNBC, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pledged to stick to his massive tax cuts plan and vow to balance the budget despite the proposed $700 billion federal government bailout of the nation’s largest financial institutions:

HARWOOD: Would you concede, then, that you could not achieve your goal of balancing the budget in your first term with this huge bailout added?
MCCAIN: I believe we can still balance the budget.

And he plays dumb on Fiorina's balloon package as CEO of HP.

McCain Clueless When Asked About Fiorina’s $40 Million Golden Parachute: ‘I Do Not Know The Details’
For the past week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been railing against Wall Street “fat cats” and pledging to “stop multi-million dollar payouts to CEOs who have broken the public trust.”

This principled stance against excessive executive compensation, however, is undermined by the fact that McCain’s senior economic adviser and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina received $42 million dollars in compensation after being fired from HP. On NBC this morning, host Meredith Vieira noted that Fiorina “is an example of exactly the kind of person you say is at the root of the problem.” McCain replied, “I don’t think so”:
McCAIN: I don’t think so. … Because I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects. I don’t know the details of her compensation package. But she’s one of many advisers that I have.
Q: But she did get a $45 million dollar golden parachute after being fired while 20,000 of her employees were laid off.
McCAIN: I have many of the people, but I do not know the details of what happened.
“How can you not know the details of her past? I mean, that would be awfully important,” Vieira responded.