Replies

....I'll take what I can get. Illegal immigration is the most immediate problem facing our state and nation IMO......

I have been concerned about illegal immigration since the mid 70's, and I even lobbied Congress against the 1986 Immigration Reform/Amnesty bill, unfortunately the Farm Burea had Congress bought and paid for with their huge lobbying efforts...Congress then promised one time amnesty..we shall see, so far Bush is conspicuously absent on the issue...and apparently Rove is desperate to avoid the issue...I think they are out of touch on the issue just like Davis is out of touch as to why he is being recalled...where are the polltakers and questions about illegals to VOTERS?

Here is an interesting article...I don't know what the best strategy is but I still think the majority of people in California are fed up with illegals..I talk to many people about their concerns, including legal immigrants and they seem concerned also..main complaints -competition for wages & jobs from illegals, welfare & workers comp abuse, and higher taxes..the car tax even hit the lower income people and opened their eyes:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9364

"Most observers of the current race have missed the significance of the fact that the first gauntlet the Schwarzenegger camp has chosen to throw down is the revelation that Arnold voted for Prop 187 when it was on the ballot in 1994. Liberal Democrats have already seized on this (and on the fact that Arnold is on the board of US English) as though it were an Achilles heel that will trip him up as the campaign proceeds. This conclusion is wrong and comes from reading too much of their own press. In fact, the opposite is more likely.

Liberals who think Prop 187 is a political albatross for Arnold are in deep denial and should think again. While it is true the liberal establishment and media denounced Proposition 187 as xenophobic and worse, a landslide majority of Californians -- including more than 40 percent of Hispanics -- embraced 187 and turned it into law. They will do so (symbolically) again. Who better than a grateful American immigrant like Arnold Schwarzenegger to point out to obtuse liberals the difference between legal immigration and illegal entry – and the crippling consequences of not making the distinction?

Of course once Prop 187 was passed, the liberals immediately set out to overturn the people’s vote. They took it to their friends in the judiciary who scuttled it. Californians have been forced to live with the destructive consequences of illegal immigration ever since. But that only makes Prop 187 an even more volatile memory now.

Two events that have taken place since Wilson's victory have actually increased the likelihood that Californians will embrace Arnold's position and reject the Democrats' prejudice again. The first of these is the 9/11 attacks, which have made the importance of secure borders an even more pressing issue than before. Particularly since Governor Davis and the Democrats have now seen fit to provide drivers' licenses to illegals. This is a typical Democratic scheme to gain new constituencies for the party, in effect granting illegals the right to vote (a driver's license and address are all the identity credentials needed). But the Democrats' scheme also allows terrorists to establish themselves as citizens of the country they plan to attack. Californian voters will not appreciate this.

The second event is the impending bankruptcy of the state's finances. Illegal immigration is a significant component of this problem, which liberals don’t like to discuss. As a result of the judicial scuttling of Prop 187, big-ticket items like education, health-care and welfare are still available to anyone crossing the border, whether he crosses legally or not. The costs of this generosity to aliens who are here illegally amounts to billions of dollars every year in addition to unpaid taxes which are estimated at $7 billion dollars annually, i.e., almost 20 percent of the budget deficit.

If Arnold Schwarzenegger takes a leaf from the book of his chairman’s campaigns and champions these issues, he will put together a coalition that will stretch from the electoral center which he already dominates all the way over to the Bill Simon -- Tom McClintock right. That is the formula for a win."