Posted on 11/14/2006 3:32:53 PM PST by Dane
Immigration Enforcement Still a Winner
by Jessica Echard Posted Nov 13, 2006
It was only a matter of time before the open-borders crowd tried to scapegoat the immigration issue in light this week’s Republican defeat. Those who blame an immigration enforcement platform for widespread GOP losses are experiencing a moment of selective campaign recall, as if there was a batch of pro-amnesty/guest worker candidates who surged to victory. In fact, quite the opposite is true.
In districts where pro-enforcement incumbents lost, such as Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth’s (note: Hayworth has not conceded) and Indiana Rep. John Hostettler, their Democrat opponents actually campaigned on tough enforcement and border security. Hayworth’s opponent stated that “enforcing our nation's immigration laws is an absolutely necessary ingredient to securing the U.S.-Mexico border,” and promised to “extend existing fencing in urban areas” along our southern border. Sounds like he’s taken a page out of “Whatever It Takes,” Hayworth’s recent book on combating illegal immigration.
In Hostettler’s case, his opponent, a county sheriff, had this to say about the crisis of illegal immigration: “It’s also not right when an Indiana employer passes over an American for a job only because an illegal worker is cheaper. We need to tighten our borders, enforce the laws we have, and punish employers who break them.” I don’t know that a candidate talking like that could get the Big Business endorsement.
Also in Arizona, pro-amnesty/guest-worker proponents like to point to the Hayworth loss and the loss of pro-enforcement candidate Randy Graf in the 8th District, as a referendum on the immigration issue. However, they fail to mention four immigration ballot initiatives that Arizonian’s passed overwhelmingly, including making English Arizona’s official language (74%), denying bail to illegal aliens (78%), barring illegal aliens from winning punitive damages (74%), and denying in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants (72%). These are impressive numbers for any ballot initiatives, especially considering the supposed “divisive” nature of the immigration debate. Evidently, nearly three quarters of Arizona voters are “mean-spirited.”
As many pundits have already explained, this was an election cycle when Republicans lost across the ideological board, from pro-amnesty Sen. Mike DeWine (R.-Ohio) to pro-enforcement John Hostettler. Clearly, pro-enforcement candidates did not lose based on their support for the rule of law. In fact, by courageously listening to the American people, they shifted the immigration debate to the political mainstream. While the players and party have changed, the will of the American people remains the same: Enforce our immigration laws.
Jessica Echard is the executive director of Eagle Forum, a pro-family public policy organization founded by Phyllis Schlafly.
So please tell me Jessica, why is Hostettler's opponent(IIRC, his name is Ellsworth, you should have included that in your article, Jessica), as his first vote in the 110th Congress is going to be for nancy pelosi as Speaker.
ping
This article is baloney. All the staunch border enforcement Republicans lost. And the issue has never polled above 10% of concerns for Americans.
bump
Baloney, Many many people care about this issue. Even a lot of the leftest liberals are ticked off with open boarders.
So Dewine, the pro amnesty Sen lost, and Hostetler was out manuevered by a even stronger anti illegal candidate so it would seem to me the myth is quite dead.
We need a broad discussion on the subject..badly.
Uh Dewine was replaced by the much more liberal sherwood brown, and the guy who defeated Hostettler, Ellsworth, will be voting for nancy pelosi, as his first vote in the 110th Congress.
Once liberals realized that the illegals were draining beloved social programs, they got mad.
Haven't you seen the polls? Every single poll I've seen, including Fox News, the highest this issue received for concern was 9-11%.
So did a lot of Republicans who didn't make immigration an issue.
I believe the immigration/open borders/amnesty issue would have been a winner for Republicans. But, the Republicans lacked a clear message, party discipline and the courage to bring this issue, in particular, to the forefront.
It's simmering out there, and the Party that gets it "right", will be the majority party in 2008.
I've seen the polls at 84%. This is a bipartisan issue. Even the dems want something done.
Show me one single poll where Americans have been asked what concerns them most where the polls were at 84%.
When asked what concerns Americans most, it's always Iraq, the economy and a host of other issues. I've never seen it rank higher than 5th or 6th on the list and that's with 11% (max) of people saying it's a concern.
And I'll note that among the staunchest border control people, JD Hayworth and some other names I've forgotten now, they all lost the election. There was an article about this on FR a few days ago.
BTTT
The polls are reflective of what politicians want people to fight about. Nothing more. I can remember congressmen saying 'illegal immigration' was the number one issue called over.
There's no plan to satisfy many of us, because they won't even talk about how much this is going to cost us. Some say 60 billion is a low estimate. I say forget about it.
Tancredo lost?
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