Posted on 10/27/2005 10:22:22 AM PDT by RWR8189
Actually, I think he understands the politics of the problem.
On the one hand, the illegal alien problem is massive and must be dealt with NOW. On the other, any appearance of a pogrom will be devastating to the Republicans at the polls.
The answer is a balance between HARD enforcement at the borders with a mechanism for documentation of LEGAL immigrants, and both should be unveiled simultaneously, or there will be political hell to pay. Any solution should be crafted to avoid a gold rush of new illegals coming in to take advantage of amnesty. So amnesty of any kind has to be avoided.
AFTER the borders are secured and the mechanism for LEGAL immigration is in place, then the illegals already here can be dealt with.
Dear friend, please let's pull together and not make the assumption that there is only one kind of conservatism.
Unfortunately I gotta disagree with you Fred. Senator Frist does not have the cojones necessary to herd the Republican RINOS. Thus I fear we'll never see the passage of the Constitutional Option, which is a shame. We really do need that.
It's not going to be JRB.
Estrada would be great, but I don't think that he would put his family through another estradification.
Do you recall that the charge was made that Miguel Estrada said only what his white masters told him? That is pretty foul to have to listen to without the benefit of support from Republicans.
"I'll once again make my darkhorse pitch for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott"
That would be AWESOME. Can't say I expect it, though.
Fred Barnes is on target!
Freddy "the Beatle" Barnes left out one thing. One Very important thing.
The rejection of Miers by conservatives, makes McAnus, and Grahams position as members of the Gang of 14 untenable if McAnus has Presidential Aspirations, and W only needs two to go Nukular.
See Above.
Looks like Fred still doesn't get it when it comes to illegal immigration.
Fred Barnes is a raging mediocrity. On Fox he was cluelessly sanguine and pollyannish on the Miers nomination. Obviously he is out of touch with conservatives. His columns reflect conventional conservative Georgetown babble and are not with the pixels on your monitor.
Then there's immigration, an issue on which the president and his base are at odds. Yet a compromise wouldn't be impossible, if Bush agreed to tougher security on the southern border with double or triple the number of border guards and conservatives agreed to lighten up on illegal immigrants already living in the United States. By avoiding harsh treatment of Mexican immigrants here, Republicans could avert a backlash from Hispanic-Americans, a voting bloc of growing importance.
You must feel that your stance is incredibly weak if you have to resort to misrepresenting the other side.
saveliberty wrote: "Dear friend, please let's pull together and not make the assumption that there is only one kind of conservatism."
With all due respect, what do you mean? Are you claiming the RINOs are just different kinds of conservatives? The Republican Party needs to accept people with different views, of course, but it still has to stand for something. I think the "extreme right wing" would be more willing to compromise if the Republican leadership gave us a bit more than lip service. Show me action, not talk! Let's see them reduce and/or restrain the federal beast in some tangible way, and then we can come together.
If I understand the withdrawl reasons right, then this effectively nukes Alberto Gonzolez, too, as a potenital high court nominee. A two-fer.
I agree with everything Barnes wrote. I just hope Pres. Bush is smart enough to go this course.
[[Estrada would be great, but I don't think that he would put his family through another estradification.]]
That is why I said he would need assurances of strong, active support that would counter attacks. I think that and an appeal to his sense of love of country.
[[Do you recall that the charge was made that Miguel Estrada said only what his white masters told him? That is pretty foul to have to listen to without the benefit of support from Republicans.]]
I recall that well, but the SCOTUS confirmation process is much more visible and under closer scrutiny. And those judicial memos would take a lot of fire power away from the democrats. Painting the democrats as beholding to, and manipulated by, special interests, instead of serving the people, would be a powerful weapon, one they would want to avoid with the 2006 elections just around the corner. I think they would have their hands tied with an Estrada nomination.
Yes, Rush has been saying this.
It's noteable because Fred has been mischaracterizing the opposition to this nomination from the start. From the strength of it to the reasons for it. Seems he's been forced to come closer to the reality of the situation now that the nomination has been withdrawn.
good point!
>>>>I'll once again make my darkhorse pitch for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The left would look like the bullies they are trying to beat up a man in a wheelchair.
Nothing against him, but I don't think the next nominee should be a Texan after this last Texan "crony" didn't make it. I think it makes it too easy for the dems to call him a crony again.
patent
"Nothing against him, but I don't think the next nominee should be a Texan after this last Texan "crony" didn't make it. I think it makes it too easy for the dems to call him a crony again. "
This is all hypothetical, obviously, and I doubt if GWB will go there...but...that said, Abbott is a completely different caliber of nominee than whats her name. He is very qualified, very smart, very politically savvy, very telegenic. And he's never worked for Bush. So yeah he's a Texan, but it's not like he has tied his destiny to Bush. I think if the D's did the crony thing, it would fall flat. If I were strategizing for the Dems, I would try to come up with a different talking point. The only thing they can argue against Abbott is that he's an extremist and would overrule RvW. That's there only hope and since they are going to do that anyway, then, we ought to put up a candidate who is solid on other fronts.
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