Posted on 12/03/2005 9:25:49 PM PST by LouAvul
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California congressional election featuring the dark-horse candidacy of border-control activist Jim Gilchrist has thrust the issue of illegal immigration to the political forefront.
Gilchrist became a lightning rod in the immigration debate by founding the local Minutemen volunteer border patrol and is a long-shot candidate in Tuesday's special election in one of California's most solidly Republican districts.
But political analysts say his presence on the ballot forced Republican Party favorite John Campbell and others to take a hard line on immigration -- or risk alienating voters frustrated over the issue.
Gilchrist, running as an American Independent Party candidate, drew 14 percent of the vote in the October 5 primary.
"Some of Gilchrist's vote was a protest vote. Voters sent a message that immigration was an important issue for them and they anticipate that the Republican Party will pay attention to it in the future," said Luis DeSipio, a political science professor at University of California, Irvine.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This will be an interesting election. The primary was skewed because a lot of Young's voters were celebrating the jewish holiday.
Kerry got 41 percent in this district. With a low turnout and Gilchrist and Campbell splitting the vote this election will be a lot closer than people think.
I'd rate Gilchrist an A+ on the border, Cambell a B and Young an F.
Don't even need to deport them manually. If you fine and prosecute employers who employee them then they will self dport. Th ecompanies who employ them will just fire them all and refuse to hire any, and as such they will stop coming across the border if there are no jobs availible. Although for this to work you have to not allow them to recieve any social services, this includes education.
KKLA ran a long interview with Gilcrest today....not sure if it was a paid infomercial or not.
That is the problem isn't it. Our 'Leaders' sit secure in the fact that we don't have a choice and only do what is the right thing when they re FORCED to do so by us being given an alternative to the Duopoly of Rino's and Dems.
Just wish it as possible to field a complete slate of new candidates and throw all of these bums out.
Campbell voted to grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal alien children and for acceptance of Mexico's easily obtainable matricula consular cards as valid identification.
Jim Gilchrist will lose mostly because he's running as an independent, not because of his stand on illegal immigration.
I listened to John Campbell on Michael Medved and it kind of made me sick that Medved would cover for him. Campbell said he wasn't for open borders, and that he mistakenly voted for those other things because it was his first vote in CA and he made a mistake or something.
More fraud on Republicans committed by the CAGOP and RINO-STREAM MEDIA
Agreed. It will be interesting all around.
You may be correct but a 3rd party candidate has forced this "Two-Party Cartel" to answer the call to the independent thinkers. Nationally I guarantee that if you all would vote outside of this cartel we could force these bought & paid for congresscritters to decide whether to suck up to the elites or get voted out by the electorate. Please all of you vote for the most conservative candidate in your next election & tell the GOP why you did such.
What is most interesting is that everyone that I have talked with in this district are voting for Gilchrist. Not scientific but it sure has made the pubbie do a 180. I luv it.
Wow, what a treat to actually be able to register a vote on illegal immigration. For some reason, the Dems and Republicans always seem to arrange it so that there is no choice.
The mayor, Allan Mansoor, has proposed that Costa Mesa police be trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to uphold immigration laws while carrying out their regular duties. This is being presented at next week's City Council Meeting.
You can also view next Tuesday's Costa Mesa City Council meeting live via streaming video from CMTV24. The above issue is the first item under New Business on the agenda. Still, this issue most likely won't air till 9:30-10 or beyond.
The agenda is available in pdf format here. I expect "Hispanic" media to be out in force shoving cameras in attendees faces as they were for meetings discussing the closure of the city-sponsored Day Labor Center several months back.
Puts an interesting light on December's election in that I'm not so sure turnout will be as low as suggested.
Count me in!
ping
But that is not what they will tell us after the election. They will say that the illegal immigration issue does not resonate with the voters and that Republicans who run on a tough immigration stance will lose. It will be exactly the same spin they put on the Virginia Governor's race.
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.