Posted on 08/17/2007 6:29:39 AM PDT by az4vlad
What is the Republican National Committee doing attacking the two major GOP contenders for president, Giuliani and Romney (who have no history as conservatives) for being too conservative on illegal immigration? The party leadership is out of touch with not only conservative Republicans, but mainstream Republicans as well.
The Republican National Committee chairman, Mel Martinez, has come out criticizing the GOP's 2 top candidates for president, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for their positions on resolving illegal immigration . What is wrong with this picture? Giuliani and Romney are considered RINOs to many Republicans, with track records to prove it, so the Republican Party is doing Republicans no favors by attacking them for being too conservative. So far Giuliani and Romney are the only two Republican candidates with any real chance at winning the primary election (and if the RNC is that liberal on illegal immigration then it certainly won't support the more conservative Fred Thompson if he enters the race), so why is the RNC trying to scare off the conservative base even more from supporting these realistic candidates? After the Senate immigration bill fiasco, most Republicans, regardless of their stance on illegal immigration, came to a consensus that the bill had too many problems - no surprise considering it was mostly Democrats who supported it. Most Americans are gradually becoming resigned to the fact that Hillary Clinton is probably going to become our next president, unless something extraordinary takes place, like capturing Osama bin Laden. If Republicans want to keep control of the White House - which in fact is supposed to be the primary responsibility of the RNC - it is not the time to be attacking our leading candidates, who ironically represent the views of the middle-of-the-road RNC leadership better than the rest of candidates.
Giuliani is no illegal immigration hawk. He has tried to distance himself from his record in the past as New York mayor. However, even though he says he would emphasize enforcement issues more as President, he still takes a much more nuanced position than hardcore conservatives. In a recent campaign appearance in Boone, Iowa, he stated that he would not require the deportation of illegal immigrants who have children born in the U.S., unless they've committed crimes. He says he will move on to comprehensive immigration reform eventually - issues like paths to citizenship, guest worker program - after the borders are secured. He describes himself as "very practical about illegal immigration." "Good people would be given a chance," he said. "They'd have to earn it, they'd have to pay penalties and back taxes, they'd have to be able to read, write and speak English before they could become citizens. Bad people, or not such good people, would be thrown out depending on how you decided that."
Romney has criticized Giuliani recently for being soft on illegal immigration, but as recently as November 2005 Romney supported the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill, and in 2006 expressed support for a path to citizenship. Here in Arizona, where illegal immigration has been ranked by residents as the #1 issue facing Arizonans, extremely conservative Senator Jon Kyl suffered a severe backlash for supporting the Senate immigration bill this summer. Even though Kyl is considered one of the most solid conservatives in the U.S. Senate, with a lifetime rating of 96.9 from the American Conservative Union (presidential candidate Duncan Hunter only has a 92 and Tom Tancredo is barely any higher than Kyl at 97.8), the outcry from Arizona Republicans was enough to make him back off and vote against the bill's passage at one point.
So what is going on at Republican Party headquarters? The party leadership is supposed to represent the party, not the interests of a select few. Like it or not, Giuliani and Romney, arguably the two most liberal Republicans in the race for president and the only two official candidates with a realistic chance at winning, have chosen positions on this issue which fall somewhere between the liberal wing of the party and the conservatives. They should not be taken down by the very party which is supposed to represent them. Something is very wrong at Republican headquarters, which needs to be addressed before we lose this election.
What’s going on is this: Martinez appears to be completely simpatico with La Raza. Over the weekend, CSPAN covered a LaRaza panel on immigration. There were five panelists; not one, but two were members of Martinez’s staff.
One of the two was belligerent in her opposition to actions by local governments to deal with illegals. She asserted that “we” (presumably Hispanics) have the numbers to make clear that such actions are “not acceptable.”
Why has the RNC put Martinez at the top? Because of one of Karl Rove’s more ridiculous ideas. Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic. Rove decided that they are therefore crucial to the survival of the GOP. So this is part of the pandering.
It won’t work, and meanwhile the GOP is losing its base, which is presently many times larger than the Hispanic vote.
Same thing happened to me about a month ago.
Poor girl. She was nice
VictoryGal you’ve got that right.
Why, just being consistent with what they did to Randy Graf, Pat Twomey and other pubbies who didn't toe the RNC corporatist cheap lobby agenda.
Martinez chides GOP candidates
"Sen. Mel Martinez, the head of the Republican National Committee, took a swipe Tuesday at the leading Republican presidential candidates for not offering solid solutions to America's immigration crisis."
"In his remarks, Martinez did not directly refer to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but he later suggested both candidates, who were critics of the controversial Senate immigration proposal, had mischaracterized the plan. He also urged audience members to pin down the Republican candidates on immigration when they come to St. Petersburg for the YouTube/CNN Republican presidential debate Nov. 28.
"It can be a little awkward," acknowledged Martinez, a Cuban-immigrant who is neutral in the presidential race but has called Republican presidential candidate John McCain "courageous" for being a champion of the immigration plan that was so unpopular with much of the Republican base."
Martinez is the one who should STFU.
After Labor Day weekend FDThompson announces none of us will be talkin this crap!
Jusy hold on for couple weeks. Jeez.
Mel Martinez is the head of the RNC, and he criticized Rudy and Mitt's statements against shamnesty. Deal with it.
After Labor Day weekend FDThompson announces none of us will be talkin this crap!
Just hold on for couple weeks. Jeez.
Bigger than the one that already exists you mean?
See my post#16 where I show the exchange.
Martinez does not criticize their “harsh stance” on illegal immigration. He criticizes their attack of the bill without offering alternatives (which is not true, both offered alternative ideas).
This is the MSM trying to drive a wedge in the Republican Party over nothing.
Martinez has been discredited before these statements.
“The party leadership is out of touch with not only conservative Republicans, but mainstream Republicans as well.”
______________________________________________________________
Add to that 72% of the general public....both Dumocrats and Republicans.
Stuck on Stupid comes to mind....
They have offered an alternative solution, just not the one that Martinez likes. It is called enforcement first. Secure the borders, including tracking and deporting visa overstays, and enforcing the existing laws on the books against employers who employ illegals.
The major exception is McCain, who already knows that the Immigration Bill he helped forge was suicidal. He is toast.
“...so why is the RNC trying to scare off the conservative base even more from supporting these realistic candidates?”
So many hidden (and false) assumptions in that one phrase. LOL.
The accusation is true, as the chairman of the RNC he should not be criticizing any of our candidates, Mel Martinez is the one driving the wedge.
Add McClintock to the list. Hell, they didn’t even back Santorum after dissing Toomey!
Martinez is still the head of the RNC. He should have resigned after the comprehensive immigration bill was defeated this summer. He has become the poster boy for amnesty, which began with the 2006 Hagel-Martinez comprehensive immigration reform bill, that was voted against by Senate Reps 32-23.
Bush's appointment of him as RNC chair has hurt the party. Contributions are down [including mine] because he is still the chair. And the fact that he is interjecting himself into the campaign calling McCain courageous and attacking Romney and Giuliani for mischaracterizing the Senate bill is beyond the pale. Instead of you telling others to STFU, you should direct that comment to Martinez and demand his resignation.
It is not the MSM driving a wedge in the GOP, it is Martinez. The immigration could and should be one of the defining issues of the 2008 campaign. I can assure you that the Martinez position on immigration won't be the one reflected in the GOP platorm for 2008.
If the RNC is attacking those candidates, it is probably an attempt to make them appear conservative, which they are not. The best way to get press coverage is for Republicans to attack other Republicans. You know “it” and I know “it” and Karl Rove knows “it” and, I’m sure, the RNC knows “it”.
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