Posted on 07/07/2007 3:53:56 PM PDT by neverdem
Now that the immigration bill has finally died its slow and much-deserved death, it's an appropriate time to consider what lessons can be learned and what the episode portends for a Republican Party in disarray.
Above all, the defeat of the Senate's immigration bill-a de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants that did virtually nothing to address the threats to our national security that our porous borders have created-was a victory for average Americans over the Washington, D.C. establishment.
The details of the bill's collapse are telling. Between Tuesday and Thursday of last week, 14 senators changed their minds and voted for cloture, voting in effect to kill the legislation.
How did things unravel so quickly?
Perhaps New Mexico Republican Pete Domenici, one of the fourtee n who originally supported the bill but ended up voting against it, put it best when he said, "I was getting hammered here at home" over his support for the bill. Even more poignantly, Ohio Senator George Voinovich, who had previously defiantly promised that he wouldn't let "those people" -his constituents-intimidate him into opposing the legislation, fell in line and voted "no" in the end.
But the bill's demise was hardly partisan. Few Democrats were excited about the bill, and, as the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes has pointed out, all five Democrats running for reelection in red states in 2008 voted against it.
It seems the D.C. establishment woke up last Thursday morning reminded that it governs only with the people's consent. Polls showed that the more people knew about the bill, the more likely they were to oppose it. The opposition of average Americans to the bill was so intense that it shut down the Senate's Internet server and flooded the phone system beyond its capacity. Senators were astonished by the volume and intensity of the reaction, and, in the end, they voted accordingly.
Though public resistance to the quasi-amnesty bill came from all sides of the political spectrum (pollster Stanley Greenberg reported strong opposition amongst Republicans and Independents, and ambivalence among Democrats), the media used the bill's demise to declare electoral suicide for the GOP amongst the nation's fastest growing demographic. A New York Times headline proclaimed, "After Bill's Fall, G.O.P May Pay in Latino Votes." Even some conservatives got into the act. Columnist Linda Chavez predicted, "...Republicans who believe this is going to help them at the polls in 2008 may well find themselves sitting on the back benches for years to come."
But such claims are dubious. The GOP will never be able to outflank the Democrats on immigration. Despite President Bush's more than generous immigration reform proposal, his approval ratings amongst Hispanics languished at or below those amongst the general public.
Republicans would do better to remain true to their values of abiding by the law and assimilation, while emphasizing their support for legal immigration. This might actually help Republicans gain the support of many Hispanics. Polls show majority support among American Hispanics for a variety of conservative immigration reforms, including requiring immigrants to be proficient in English as a condition for remaining in the United States. An August 2005 Time poll of Hispanics revealed 61 percent considered illegal immigration either an "extremely serious" or "very serious" problem, and 41 percent thought the U.S. was not doing enough to secure its bor ders against illegal immigration, while 19 percent felt it was doing "too much." More recently, a June Gallup poll found an overwhelming majority of Hispanic Americans (71 percent) feel immigration levels should stay at current levels or decrease.
Furthermore, polls reveal that conservative stances on issues like abortion, marriage and the war on terror receive widespread support amongst most immigrant groups, particularly Hispanics. I am hopeful that Republican allegiance to conservative positions on family issues and foreign policy will attract Hispanic voters, even though, admittedly, no Republican presidential nominee has ever won a majority of the Hispanic vote.
Clearly, however, while some seem to believe that the Republican Party must sell out their core principles and become "Democrat-lite" on immigration in order to have a shot at securing the support of Hispanic voters, clear-sighted a nalysis reveals that fidelity to conservative values could prove a powerful force over time.
I also feel compelled to address what became a chief criticism by the Left and many in the mainstream media of those who were skeptical of the immigration legislation: that opposition to the bill was fueled by "nativism" (read: racism), ignorance and prejudice.
But, the missing link to understanding Americans' anxiety over the issue is not an underlying racism but the reality that our nation is failing to build a citizenry that loves America first. A poll conducted by Investor's Business Daily found that 64 percent of Hispanics in America considered themselves "mostly Hispanic," but that only 15 percent saw themselves as "mostly American," while 69 percent of respondents said they lived in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. Even worse, 27 percent of the survey sample had lived in the US A for more than 25 years, while only 15 percent lived here less than six years.
Many Americans witness immigration marches where foreign flags are flown; they see little attempt at assimilation in our schools and government bureaucracies; they notice immigrants who spend decades in America but do not attempt to learn English. The truth is, much of the opposition to this bill stemmed from the fact that it did little to encourage immigrant assimilation.
In the end, the question remains: How did a bill that had the support of the White House, the leadership of both parties in Congress and most of the so-called mainstream media manage to fail? The answer is that this absurd bill awakened a silent majority fed up with the perpetuation of policies that reward lawlessness, discourage assimilation and ignore potentially grave threats to our national security.
If the Washington elite on bot h sides of the aisle learn these lessonsand begin to listen to their constituents, then perhaps some good can come out of this mess.
Mr. Bauer, a 2000 candidate for president, is chairman of Campaign for Working Families and president of American Values.
Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Toll free to the US Senate:
1-800-882-2005. (Spanish number)
1-800-417-7666. (English number)
Courtesy of a pro-amnesty group, no less!!
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003
phone: 202.863.8500 | fax: 202.863.8820 | e-mail: info@gop.com
Take a look at their hidden agenda: http://www.mexica-movement.org
So much crap. Illegals who would become legal under the shamnesty plan would vote Republican? Like I said, so much crap.
>>Even some conservatives got into the act. Columnist Linda Chavez predicted, “...blah blah blah...”<<
Linda Chavez conservative?
BEWARE, the left may try to revivie the debate thought the HOUSE!
bookmark
It’s too bad the Linda Chavez doesn’t seem to understand that one’s standing in the polls isn’t the most important thing in life - even for a politician.
Another good resource for expressing our discontent with the pro-amnesty “masters of the universe” in the Senate:
Headlines for July 8, 2007:
#1 Savage Nation Works, Borders Flooded with Mexicans Returning to Mexico.
#2 Anglo-Saxon Workers pouring into cities and towns now willing to do work!
#3 Employers Firing anyone that looks like a Mexican
#4 New Song Tops the Charts: We Are The Savage Nation and We are in your Face!
Thanks to the Savage Nation these headlines describe the victory!
Isn’t this what the opponets wanted? Now what?
Thanks for the links & numbers.
The periodic Congressional recesses should afford us the opportunity to get some valuable “face time” with our respective congress critters. Some of these folks will be holding Town Hall Meetings around their states/districts. A call to one of their local offices or a visit to their web sites ought to give you the schedule.
Actually, the LOCAL TOWN HALL MEETING is the best – and least costly — way to get to these folks. Many well-intentioned advocacy groups who urge their members to GO TO WASHINGTON are more interested in putting on a show than actually impacting legislation. The simple fact is that unless they can put a few million folks on the Mall, the political ruling elites simply IGNORE these sorts of events.
The OTHER problem with seeking an “audience” with these critters – ostensibly OUR EMPLOYEES (or, FORMER EMPLOYEES) — in their offices in D.C or even in the district is that you are at the psychological and emotional disadvantage of BEING ON THEIR TURF in the undesirable role of an “inferior” pleading with a “superior.”
These TOWN HALL MEETING take place on the closest thing to NEUTRAL TERRITORY as can be found. And, unlike those office meetings, they will be filled with OTHER citizens whom your public questions/comments can sensitize to issues other than the one that brought them there. (NOTE: IF YOUR CRITTER FORCES YOU TO SEND THOSE QUESTION CARDS UP TO HIS THRONE – WHERE HIS DISTRICT FLUNKIE WILL CULL ALL BUT THOSE HIS LIEGE WISHES TO ANSWER – GET A NEW CRITTER AT THE NEXT ELECTION BECAUSE THIS ONE IS TOO FAR GONE TO BE SALVAGED.)
The recent immigration dust-up brought a lot of new folks into the fray over who runs the country. Because the forces of darkness never rest, IT IS VITAL THAT THESE NEW FOLKS NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP. Sadly, most of them will.
I predicted that illegal immigration would be a hot-button issue over 10 years ago when more than 70% of those at Newt’s meetings – where I regularly went to gin up support for the Fair Tax (then called the National Retail Sales Tax) — were mad as hell and beating him up on the illegal situation. While he never has come out directly for the Fair Tax, more than once, Newt coupled the two issues by suggesting that the over 100,000 IRS agents be given a weapon and training and sent to guard the border with Mexico. Newt KNOWS how to couple.
If YOUR critters ARE having meetings – and if not during THIS recess, unless their names are Reid, Pelosi, Graham or Schumer, they will almost certainly have them in the run-up to the election – please think about attending, taking the mike and telling them what YOU think. Even if THEY fail to heed your words, you just may educate the audience to some new problem. Heck, you may even get a heart-warming round of applause.
If nothing else, it’s excellent THEATER to watch some of these folks artfully dodge questions, shuck and jive around a tough issue about which they have absolutely NO knowledge, have their overflowing drool-cups changed by one of their flunkies, etc. so TAKE A CARLOAD with you.
See you there???
Probably more conservative than you are in many respects considering she is accepted and promoted on TownHall.com as a conservative columnist.
No, but you can't accomplish much politically if you can't get elected.
And for those who changed positions due to the public outcry were definitely thinking about the polls.
Linda really jumped the shark on this one...
FR *bookmark* , and Thanks neverdem
The survival instinct. The survival of their criminal outrageous pensions...
Most americans no matter how dense, know the basics of government:
There are three branches.
Legislative, they create the laws.
Judicial, they make sure that new laws conform to our Constitution and legally adopted Amendments.
The Executive, which is the only branch empowered Constitutional to carry out the laws.
Two observations.
Without the executive doing its job the other two are useless.
The first branch, the legislature, is not allowed to implement laws.
There you have it. All the laws passed and "approved" are totally useless if they're not implemented; e.g. the 1986 Amnesty Fraud.
Assimilation first.
“In the end, the question remains: How did a bill that had the support of the White House, the leadership of both parties in Congress and most of the so-called mainstream media manage to fail? The answer is that this absurd bill awakened a silent majority fed up with the perpetuation of policies that reward lawlessness, discourage assimilation and ignore potentially grave threats to our national security.”
There you are!!
BEWARE, the left may try to revivie the debate thought the HOUSE!
Oh, it’ll be back. You can count on that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.