There is no probable GOP candidate for 2012 that would deport all the illegals. That’s simple fact.
Which is why they’ll need to be driven out by other means. Operation wetback deported far fewer than those who left on their own.
The heart of the matter is a "path" toward citizenship.
I believe everyone is in agreement with this though some lefties want them simply deemed "citizens".
If the GOP runs a candidate that I can vote for like Jeff Sessions, Robert Bentley, or Martha Roby here in Alabama, then I will vote Republican in the 2012 presidential election.
If they run another Juan McCain or George W. Bush, I will vote for the Constitution Party or just leave that box unticked. In 2008, they forced that choice upon us and lost Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. Obama outperformed Kerry in almost every Red State.
If they haven’t learned anything from that experience, then clearly they need to be taught another lesson.
Let's start with enforcement of our existing laws and securing our border including a system that tracks and deports visa overstays who make up about 40% of the illegal population. Attrition thru enforcement works. The choice is not between mass deportation and blanket amnesty.
We tried a "one-time" blanket amnesty in 1986. The government estimated that 1 million would apply and the true number turned out to be 2.7 million. We now have 12 to 20 million illegals and fools like Gingrich want to legalize their status as way of eliminating the problem. It will just encourage more illegals to come for a third amnesty.