Posted on 09/05/2002 8:55:43 AM PDT by Spiff
Edited on 05/07/2004 5:37:46 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Jim Behnke discusses the issues at his home with the Huachuca Mountains as his backdrop. He says U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is out of touch with the realities of life on the border and advocates the use of special military forces to control illegal immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at tucsoncitizen.com ...
Jim Behnke is getting all the press now and Kolbe seems to be AWOL. No one has seen a single Kolbe campaign sign. Kolbe has skipped 3 scheduled debates/appearances with Behnke (KGUN9 TV, AARP, League of Women Voters). Kolbe made a quick appearance at the LD30 (Tucson) Republican meeting and said something about his opinion that the border situation isn't a big deal to southeast Arizona because what's a million or so crossers who come in and then leave to other parts of the country. According to my source, this earned Kolbe the vocal ire of the Republican crowd. He won't step foot into Cochise County, Green Valley is turning on him, and now - finally - Tucson is seeing the light and preparing to show him the door.
Remember Micheal New?
We need troops at the border, that's for sure.
Behnke may not be able to overcome name recognition by Kolbe, but the Gay Caballero should find out real fast who keeps him in office, and it isn't Raul Grijalva's supporters. And that means that Behnke should have a good showing.
There's no doubt that places like Wilcox, Sierra Vista and Green Valley will vote for Behnke if he runs a good campaign. But the votes are in Tucson, and that's where the strongest name recognition effort should come from.
The Citizen will undoubtedly endorse Kolbe in the Primary. But their circulation is now down to 40,000, so they aren't that influential. Signs, TV, radio (try Emil Franzi's radio show!) and anything else should be used, just so Republicans and conservative independents hear about him.
Kolbe ain't Morris Udall. He could eventually be unseated. Maybe y'all down there could throw a few street protests against Kolbe's illegal immigration stance and get some free media that way.
Just some humble opinions from an expatriate Tucson native.
The Tucson 'Reconquista Rag' Citizen has already endorsed 'Koyote Kolbe'. On the very same editorial page - the very same day they trashed Behnke, they printed a pro-reconquista, pro-Aztlan "Poem/Rap" by Pimental one of their leftists staff writers.
The Star has printed some good stuff on Behnke. His responses to their panelists questions were FAR better than Kolbe's. The Star hasn't endorsed anyone yet in the race. I don't know who they're going to endorse.
After Kolbe was heckled over the border issue by attendees at all of his Town Halls two months ago - Town Halls the Kolbe described as "contentious" - he sent out TWO full color postcard mailings pretending that he was Mr. Border Security because he voted to increase INS funding once or twice. No one believed his B.S. In fact, they've come to realize that it is Kolbe's failed policies and wrong views on this issue, his votes on the issue, and his just plain not caring about the problem that is responsible for the situation we're in today in southeast Arizona.
He's always voted for 245(i) Amnesty for Illegal Aliens - in fact he cast the deciding vote on the latest section 245(i) Amnesty for Illegal Aliens extension back in March of this year. Two out of two times he's voted against allowing the INS to request assistance from the U.S. military - one of these votes came in September 2001 shortly after 9/11.
Right now, in this district, Kolbe has never been more unpopular. He's made a serious miscalculation and he's about to get his butt handed to him in the primary election. Good riddance!
Kolbe, and the rest of the dim-wits in DC. I hope he pulls this one through. All the best to him....I hope they wake up to Behnke's name in Tuscon!
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