"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Petitions Filed, And Candidates Determined
By Greg L | 15 December 2007 | National Politics | 11 Comments
Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have all filed what appears to be a sufficient number of petition signatures in order to qualify for the ballot for the Republican Nomination for President. Missing he cut are the campaigns for Tom Tancredo which seemed to evaporate during the last month, and Duncan Hunter which never really got a base developed outside of the readership of a few blogs, both of which were the premiere candidates on the illegal alien issue. Both failed to build effective campaign organizations in Virginia and have struggled with garnering sufficient campaign contributions, which makes the significant hurdles imposed under Virginia elections laws rather hard to overcome.
That’s a big disappointment, since those two candidates probably represented the most consistent policy positions on the illegal alien issue during their political careers. It would be nice to have the opportunity to send a message to the top-tier candidates here if needed, as some have started to waver on protecting our borders and are already starting to demonstrate a disturbing record of supporting illegal aliens through their empty rhetoric that doesn’t match their prior actions. With Hunter and Tancredo out, don’t expect to see a whole lot of discussion by these campaigns about illegal aliens.
And get ready to see the left once again claim that we don’t care about this issue. Unless one of these gets the nomination, liberals are going to try to sell the idea that illegal aliens are an issue that voters just don’t care about.
H/T: Too Conservative
UPDATE: NLS says Duncan Hunter filed petitions, but no word yet on whether they had enough to qualify for the ballot. If he makes it, I’m absolutely a Duncan Hunter guy even though he isn’t likely to win Virginia. I’ve got some unresolved concerns about the rest of this field, although Thompson and Romney aren’t too bad.
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I believe that’s John McCain, not Tom McCain.
[Ed note: Yep, and thanks for pointing out that goof.]
Anybody who thought Tancredo would make it, was definitely dreaming. If there ever was a tunnelvision candidate, he was (is) it. Illegal immigration seemed his ONLY topic of concern. Starflight’ll have to find another idol, I’m afraid.
Fred Thompson is the only candidate with a clear position on illegal immigration:
“The United States is a nation of immigrants. Throughout our history, legal immigrants have brought energy, ideas, strength, and diversity to our country, our economy, and our culture. This must continue. But in the post-9/11 world, immigration is more of a national security issue. A government that cannot secure its borders and determine who may enter and who may not, abrogates a fundamental responsibility. I am committed to:
Securing our borders and enforcing immigration laws. Amnesty is not an option and the toleration of “sanctuary cities” must end.
Reviewing our immigration laws and policies to ensure they advance our national interests.
Uniting Americans by welcoming legal immigrants willing to learn English, assimilate into our communities, and become productive citizens.”
see this link for the his complete immigration plan: http://www.fred08.com/virtual/Immigration.aspx
Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minutemen, endorses - guess who - Mike Huckabee!
December 11, 2007 - 12:05 PM
Minuteman Founder Endorses Huckabee
by Team HuckabeeSend to a friend In Iowa today Minuteman Project Founder Jim Gilchrist endorsed Governor Huckabee. We will have a press release on today’s big endorsement shortly
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=878
As for Tancredo, here’s something you should know: he was elected as an advocate of term limits, yet changed his mind after promising to serve no more than three terms:
In 1998, Tancredo solemnly pledged that he would serve no more than three terms as a Congressman. “Tancredo was a leader of the term limits movement and has pledged to stick to the three terms that Colorado voters tried to impose on congressional representatives in 1994,” the Rocky Mountain News wrote in endorsing Tancredo (”Tancredo in the Sixth,” Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 17, 1998). Several years later, in a 2001 interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Tancredo again swore to keep his promise to the voters: “For me, the issue of giving one’s word and promising to do something like this is more important than the rest of it… The overriding motivation for me today to adhere to the term limits pledge is that I made a pledge… I took the pledge. I will live up to the pledge. That’s it. That’s the overriding issue.”
Somewhere between 2001 and 2004, when the time for him to honor his three-term pledge came due, something mysterious occurred that led Tancredo to believe that he is now absolutely irreplaceable in Congress as a fighter against immigration and “multiculturalism.” The scales fell from Tancredo’s eyes, and he suddenly realized that the term-limits principle that got him elected in the first place - a principle that he more than any other single person had ardently championed in Colorado - was wrong. At least as applied to him.
Tancredo decided to break his pledge and run for a fourth term in Congress in 2004.
It was as if the Pope had decided he no longer wanted to be a Catholic - yet wanted to keep his fancy Vatican digs.
http://www.tomtancredo.org/
He’s a liar and a blowhard. He accomplished absolutely nothing in Congress. The Republican party is better off without him.
Businesses Will Fight Immigration Legislation
Va. Coalition Opposes Punishing Employers
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 15, 2007; Page B01
A broad coalition of Virginia business interests, including some of the most powerful trade groups in the state, has created an organization to oppose laws that would punish employers with undocumented workers on their payrolls.
Virginia Employers for Sensible Immigration Policy was formed in anticipation of another flurry of legislation in the General Assembly seeking to crack down on undocumented residents and employers that hire them, business leaders said. Individual trade groups and companies have spoken out before about specific anti-illegal immigration proposals, but the new group is the business community’s most visible and organized effort to influence the immigration debate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402039.html?hpid=topnews
I just don’t see how businesses want ILLEGALS except for profit. I know business is in business to make money, but using slave labor to do so was outlawed many years ago.
Ducky–If Tancredo is so ineffective, why are you attacking him so frantically? While Tancredo has no chance to win the GOP nomination he has accomplished what he set out to do. He has brought the issue of illegal immigration to the forefront of the national debate. Never again will voters be fooled by a Jorge Bush type who is in favor of erasing borders between nations.
I know this question will SEEM like a low blow but you’re not an illegal alien by any chance, are you? Or have close association with illegal aliens? Or make money off illegal aliens?
Ah, you’re onto me. I’m an alien Vulcan from the Andromeda galaxy! Live Long and Prosper!
If the illegal alien issue is #1 in hearts and minds of those across the Commonwealth (as you all seem to claim all the time), why did the guy who make this his #1 issue fall short of the support he needed to even make the ballot. Could it be because (contrary to the groupthink here), illegal immigration is NOT at the top of the list and maybe people are looking for more?
And what was the question that tripped up Hillary Clinton and started her current difficulties? Could it be because the issue of illegal immigration can be ignored and glossed over for only so long? And that eventually an issue of such great importance will break through.
I’m still trying to figure out why good Americans would condone the illegal behavior that is degrading our society and communities.