Want to Take on Immigration and Border Security in 2008?
November 13th, 2007 at 12:26am Mark Noonan
Then that will take some down-in-the-trenches political fighting - and that means, in turn, that we’ll have to support those men and women who are willing to go to the mat on the issue.
One man willing to do that is Ed Hamilton out in Nevada’s first Congressional district. This is our Democrat district - the bone we tossed them after the 2000 re-districting. In other words, this is a tough, uphill battle - so, the sooner we give someone like Mr. Hamilton the tools for victory, the sooner he puts Shelley Berkeley on the defensive over her terrible record on immigration and border security.
Details over at Battle Born Politics.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Congress, Immigration
14 Comments
1. bongoman | November 13th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Speaking of immigration, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Look at what Tancredo is up to here: http://teamtancredo.org/
They’re coming to kill you! Those nasty brown skinned people. What a douche.
2. Keith | November 13th, 2007 at 5:47 am
Lay of the weed, bongman. The paraquat is frying you pea-brain…
3. AgentFear | November 13th, 2007 at 6:16 am
I think you and your crew here at your pretty new website, (honest, looks great!), should take on immigration and border security Mark.
I think you should create even more division in America.
I think your Repuglican party should go on the warpath.
This is a double edged sword.
Wake up the Hispanic minority. Get the fur flying. Get them out in droves to vote.
Lets have more marching in the streets.
You must tread carefully Mark, you would not want to wake the sleeping giant.
4. Bigfoot | November 13th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Bongoman, listen carefully to the first sentence of Tancredo’s ad. The problem with open borders is something “beyond” the millions of illegal immigrants. It’s not the brown people from Mexico who are going to blow us up. It’s the terrorists who will follow their example and use the same open border to enter the U.S. A border open to any and all immigrants is also a border open to drugs, and to terrorists.
Think I’m wrong? Then read this, this and this.
5. sleepygene | November 13th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Tancredo is a nutjob xenophobe. He even admitted that he is so strident as to push the level of the discussion. He wants to be seen as extreme in order for the normal people to pull more his way. It worked. When Bush failed to get comprehensive immigration reform passed, a big GOP failure by the by, it was because douchebags like Tancredo and Limbaugh got the base to call their reps/senators.
This fear of brown people is going to hurt the GOP for generations.
6. Ricorun | November 13th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
As most people here probably know, I would prefer to see the GOP endorse some form of comprehensive immigration plan. I think that an emphasis on border security and deporting illegal aliens is not only unworkable and impractical, it would actually be bad for the economy, for law enforcement, and for the GOP.
But, apparently, such “get tough” measures still has considerable appeal for the GOP base. And in some districts it would probably work. As for Nevada’s 1st, I don’t know. The only thing I know about NV-01 is that its demographics have changed dramatically since 2000. So maybe, maybe not. But before you make up your mind you might want to read this. I suspect NV-01 has a lot in common with northern VA. And in northern VA, the immigration issue was a big dud for the GOP. All it really served to do was piss off the growing Latino community.
In the interest of full disclosure, I like Latinos. I’m not Latino myself (the “Rico” part of my nic is kind of an inside joke), but I have many close ties. For the most part they are good, family-oriented, hard-working people. There are exceptions, of course — as there are in any demographic. But by and large these people have a lot in common with the larger GOP community. For that reason it strikes me as fundamentally ridiculous for the GOP to essentially cede the Latino vote to the Dems by being so intransigent on a policy that is ultimately unworkable.
It seems that the concept of “realism” is gathering steam in certain corners of the GOP. How else can you explain why Giuliani is the GOP front-runner? How else can you explain why GOPers are willing to work with Musharref? How else can you explain why so many GOPers here in the erstwhile B4B (now B4V) community are willing to entertain same-sex unions (as long as you don’t call it marriage)? Considering all that, what sense does it make to take a hard line on immigration?
Here’s another indication: Both Tancredo and Hunter have based their campaigns almost exclusively on the illegal immigration issue. How are they doing?
7. Mark Noonan | November 13th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
AgentFear,
Have you even remotely paid attention to my statements about immigration?
8. Ricorun | November 13th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Mark: Have you even remotely paid attention to my statements about immigration?
Whether or not AgentFear has or not I cannot say. But I certainly have. And quite frankly, I still don’t know where you stand. To be perfectly honest, you seem to have a Clintonesque position on the issue — whereever the wind is blowing is where you are.
9. Ricorun | November 13th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Needless to say, I look forward to a preview feature, lol!
10. AgentFear | November 13th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Mark,
Yes, I read all your comments. Some I find comparable to the methane released from bovine, others laughable, and some, albeit rarely, laudable.
This was my comment. The GOP is attempting to run a “dust cover”. Raising bigoted, inflammatory rhetoric designed to move the public focus away from the nightmare the Bush Administration foreign policies have wrought.
Be careful swinging the race card around. It could go 360 d. and kick the GOP in the butt.
11. Keith | November 13th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Be careful swinging the race card around. It could go 360 d. and kick the GOP in the butt.
Uh, don’t you mean 180d, dumbarse?
And Rico, you think we should just leave our borders open? It’s not just hard-working Latinos who are sneaking into this country–illegally, by the way.
bongman, I watched the Tancredo video you linked. As usual, you ignored the true message.
12. AgentFear | November 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Keith,
(grrrr, bark,-snicker), my thought was if the issue went 180d, then it would be like a kick in the testicles.
360d would swing around behind and kick you in the arse.
13. Ricorun | November 14th, 2007 at 12:22 am
keefer: And Rico, you think we should just leave our borders open? It’s not just hard-working Latinos who are sneaking into this country–illegally, by the way.
No, I don’t. I favor a comprehensive approach. Sooner or later the GOP is going to realize that there is no other way unless they want to remain a minority party for the forseeable future.
14. Keith | November 14th, 2007 at 6:04 am
Rico:
Point noted. I think a comprehensive plan will work if we start with the employers. If the employers can’t hire illegals, then they wouldn’t come here. However, the jihadists who are crossing both borders will continue to do so…