Many in GOP Will Sit Out Bush Talk (Grassroots Angry Over Amnesty)

Los Angeles Times ^ | April 23, 2006 | Christopher Goffard and Jean Pasco

[nj26]

When President Bush arrives in Irvine on Monday morning to pitch his immigration reform plan, one of his party's best-known local standard-bearers will be maintaining a respectful — and politically careful — distance.

Dana Rohrabacher, the nine-term Republican congressman from Huntington Beach, generally supports the president, but disagrees with his immigration policies. So Rohrabacher plans to sit out Bush's speech to the Orange County Business Council.

"I don't want to be behind him looking glum and not applauding," Rohrabacher said. "So as not to be rude to the president — which I think is inexcusable — I think I'll just be staying away."

Rohrabacher's remarks reflect deep unhappiness within the GOP toward Bush's immigration stance, particularly in Republican Orange County, which is famous as a caldron of border-crackdown sentiment and where many Republicans criticize his guest-worker plan as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Bush's decision to speak here might prove an embarrassing miscalculation, said John J. Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College who used to live in Orange County and worked for the national GOP.

"I'm not sure they had their O.C. antennae up," he said of White House schedulers. "They don't realize how complicated this issue is. It's possible this is a Daniel-in-the-lions'-den moment, but that's not really characteristic of this administration."

[manwiththehands]

"I dont think anybody is going to CARE if bush "admonishes" him, because your premise that the GOP is for lawlessness and forgiving lawbreaking is crap."

We shall see.

[Savage Beast]

Yes, but the important thing is to empower whoever will make the problem better or make it less worse, not to express disdain, which is irrelevant. To have a strut in the yard at the expense of electing those who would make the problem even worse is a fool's bargain.

The only thing that matters is who will do the most to solve the illegal immigrant problem. If you think Democrats will, then you should strive to elect them; if the Republicans, then them. Anything else is foolishness.

To elect Democrats, though they make the problem worse, in order to punish the Republicans, or to do the converse, would be a pyrrhic victory.

[pointsal]

Bush is out to lunch on the border issue....

It is a BIG problem.

TONY SNOW, TONY SNOW, TONY SNOW

[SuziQ]

Why vote for Democrats lite?

So we don't have the nightmare of the REAL Democrats running Congress and possibly the White House, then hanging our military out to dry all over the world, as they did before.

[Sprite518]

LOL about Ross Perot! The Republicans have clearly demonstrated that they lack the leadership to get a meaningful legislation done. For instance, tax reform, immigration control (not amnesty), out of control spending, Iran, etc..... Its business as usual. Yes I know the Dems are worse. However, sometimes things have to get really bad before they can get better. A message needs to be sent.

Just today I heard that RINO Specter say that the Oil companies are gouging the people. The guy is clearly playing to the populist position that has no clear understanding of Economics. I know the difference between a profit and a profit margin? Why is he is doing this? What a jackass is what I thought when I heard him.

[Savage Beast]

I agree with you, Sprite.

The politicians in Washington seem to be completely out of touch with the people. I am fed up with them, and after reading the posts on this thread (including some directed to me) I realized that MANY people, including the Republican base and Middle America, are as fed up as I am--apparently even moreso.

Furthermore, just yesterday, I saw my brother-in-law and his wife for the first time in months. They are both raving Democrats--especially the wife. But they went on and on and on--not about Bush and the Republicans--but about illegal immigration! They are beside themselves with fury! This is the main issue but not the only issue--AND--I found myself agreeing with them--for the first time ever!

It appears to me that--unless Bush and the rest of the Republicans pull a rabbit out of a hat--the Republicans are going to get thrown out of Congress this November--not because of the relentless, ruthless drumbeat of anti-Bush propaganda eminating from the Left, especially the "Mainstream Newsmedia", since the 2000 election, which endured the electorate to resist Leftist influence--but because the Republicans' failures have infuriated and alienated their base support!

What concerns me is that the Democrats will NOT stop illegal immigration or protect the borders. The Democrats will ENCOURAGE illegal immigration because they expect it to enlarge their base support.

The Republicans might stop illegal immigration and close the borders though it's not likely.

Maybe a defeat of the Republican Congress in November 2006 will wake them up to reality, and maybe a wake-up call like that it what the nation needs. We certainly need to throw the RINOs out!

The problem is...how to get the Democrats out of Congress, once in, and how to keep them out of the White House.

And this fact cannot be escaped: No matter how bad the Republicans get--the Democrats are worse--much worse!

(Note tagline.)

[Savage Beast]

Oops! "endured"...I mean inured. (I musta spaced.)

[NHFREE]

Tony is an open borders guy too.....so no help is coming.

[dirtboy]

You will be responsible for the Democrats taking over power.

Blame the base. Blame the base. Blame the base!

When are y'all gonna blame Bush for being friggin' stone tone deaf on this issue? Beside, he's isn't running for re-election this year - but Dana Rohrabacher is, and he is staying away. That ALONE should tell you something there, and where the true concern is about keeping the GOP in power.

Nah, blame the base! Blame the base! Blame the Ba-a-a-a-aseee!

[Tokra]

Somewhere you got it in your mind that we had to vote Republican

No, they've got in their mind that if you DON'T vote Republican - then the Democratic Party will win. If you think the GOP is bad on illegals - just wait til the DNC takes power - the floodgates will open even wider and they'll be giving the illegals all kinds of taxpayer funded benefits (that they don't get now).

If you honestly think that this problem will get better by voting out all the Republicans - you are sadly mistaken.

[pointsal]

I know...

poor Tony Snow cannot seem to visiualize the problems created by not having a good border.

[raybbr]

I won't watch him either, this "bozo" doesn't have a plan except his rediculous "compassionate conservatism" that says no Mexican left behind.

"No mexican left behind" is a bit strong. Let's try the "new Americans".

THE "NEW AMERICAN"

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico.

George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000.

You can read the speech here.

Here is an excerpt of a good critique of that speech:

In equating our intimate historic bonds to our mother country and to Canada with our ties to Mexico, W. shows a staggering ignorance of the civilizational facts of life. The reason we are so close to Britain and Canada is that we share with them a common historical culture, language, literature, and legal system, as well as similar standards of behavior, expectations of public officials, and so on. My Bush Epiphany By Lawrence Auster