Posted on 11/01/2007 8:55:33 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
By Kleinheider
November 1st, 2007 - 8:13 am
Steve Gill pens a column this morning counseling Fred Thompson to hit the immigration issue hard — especially Hillary Clinton’s rambling answer in Tuesday night’s Democratic debate regarding drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. An answer she has now retracted.
Steve Gill on Fred’s immigration opportunity:
Thompson has the opportunity to pounce on the issue and make it his, which would give him an advantage in both the Republican Primary as well as the general election. Granted, Thompson’s personality and style do not fit well with the image of a quick, cat-like “pounce.” So perhaps he should be more like a grizzly bear and launch a big pawed “swipe” at Hillary…with the claws out.
It would appear that Fred is already heeding Gill’s advice:
While Hillary Clinton was speaking out both sides of her mouth at last night’s debate over the issue of drivers licenses for illegal aliens, what went unsaid is that this is a recipe for increased voter fraud. Under the federal “Motor Voter” law (the National Voter Registration Act of 1993), states must provide applicants for drivers licenses with the opportunity to register to vote.
Giving legal drivers licenses to illegal immigrants is wrong and would provide them the opportunity to register to vote in our country. People who are not citizens of the United States should not be encouraged by pandering politicians to further break our laws and risk the health of our political system.
And Clinton is not his only target on the issue. Fred is going after Mitt Romney as well:
Thompson’s campaign also included all the usual oppo on Romney’s prevous, much softer stance on immigration, including the oft-cited Boston Globe interview from November of 2005 in which Romney called an early version of comprehensive reform “reasonable.”
If he has one, this could be Thompson’s moment. No top-tier Republican has effectively made any hay out of Romney’s marked change in tone on immigration. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have cited the 2005 Globe story umpteen times, but have not been able to do any damage to Romney on immigration because of their own difficulties on the issue.
Fred Thompson is floundering in the polls and the media elite have already handicapped the race and decided on high that he will lose.
Fred Thompson can reasonable be said to be losing the horserace aspect of this campaign. Of course, this is a game he was never intent on playing. He is, or so he says, unconcerned by polling and elite opinion.
That may be true, however, does he not still need something, anything, that will resonate with the public and get him back in this race? Romney has the money and organization. Giuliani has the compelling narrative of 9/11, elements of the Religious Right are coalescing around Huckabee and Ron Paul is attempting to lead a social movement. Fred Thompson needs something in his campaign right now. Is it immigration? Can immigration be the issue that put Fred Thompson back in this hunt in defiance of elite opinion and polling numbers?
SEE ALSO: Fore Left
If Hunter had an affair, who would even know?
In the words of his salsa-boy campaign guru, Hunter doesn’t stand a chance.
Why don’t you go onto those threads where it’s being discussed and call them slimy? Because you know it ain’t right. So you’ll defend your candidate here on a Fred thread. Good enough.
So far I intend only to go on immigration threads because my candidate has criticized yours on immigration.
What exactly is your plan if this rumor turns out to be Fred? Because it would mean that he’ll keep dropping in the polls and eventually his followers would need to find a conservative candidate.
The best thing to do is to knock out this rumor PRONTO. I hope it’s about Hildebeast. I’ve stated in the past that I don’t want to knock down a good conservative like Fred, so I’ve stayed away from Fredhead threads. But now that my candidate has criticized Fred on the immigration issue, that’s where I’ll be going.
Thank you, mighty fair. You are still one of my favorite among the “enemy”...
Anyways it would be a lot more fun if it’s one of the democrats...
or Rudy...
wait, it’d still be about a democrat....
How you get from my post to yours is a gigantic leap of invalid logic. Where’s the connection?
I can't see myself voting for anyone else.
You don’t do your guy any good by trashing other good candidates.
;-)
It could be any of them and you need to say so. OK, I say so.
It could be Fred. The article says it’s a frontrunner. That would suggest Hildebeast, Obama, Fred, Romney, TootyFruityRudy (no surprise on that one, no reason to withhold it even), maybe McCain?
It's about savaging the most conservative candidate in the race in a vain effort to get whatshisname out of the margin of error.
What, you aren’t going to rush out and support Hunter?
I am just shocked.
:p
>Hey, I wrote an opinion piece on illegal immigration 15 years ago. Maybe I ought to run for President!<
..... If presidencies were won by single issues, you’d probably have more of a chance of winning than Fred does with his obvious flipflop on this issue.
John Cox does need a boost.
unsubstantiated rumors
***It’s an article posted, and commented on right here in FR. If I’m not allowed to post links from articles within Free Republic, we should all be notified of that. So, thanks for pinging JimRob, we might get a clarification on that.
He's a good man, a solid conservative. As his own staff has admitted, he hasn't a snowball's chance in hell. Oh, and most of his avid supporters have revealed themselves to be scum.
Much better. But you had stressed Fred a couple of times and outright implied it here with your first post.
I think on this topic it is best to stay fair and wait until it unfolds. Wild speculation should be beneath F1 folks...
If I’m not allowed to post links from articles within Free Republic, we should all be notified of that.
A bit of furious backpedaling is well advised here. Good show.
Did I miss where Fred used to be in favor of drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants?
Um. post Number 11 is toast...
Guess we have our answer...
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