Posted on 10/24/2007 10:07:56 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson yesterday staked out one of the toughest plans on the campaign trail to curb illegal immigration, trying to reignite the issue among the GOP faithful who rose up in revolt against a more moderate approach in Congress earlier this year.
Highlighting what he believes are key vulnerabilities for his main rivals, Thompson called for stripping federal funds from cities and states that do not report illegal immigrants and criticized Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for allowing so-called sanctuary cities in New York and Massachusetts.
The first principle of Thompson's plan is "No Amnesty," a clear shot at another rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who joined President Bush in trying unsuccessfully to push through a sweeping immigration overhaul bill that would have created a guest worker program and provided a path to possible citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.
Thompson's plan provoked a new round of sparring among the contenders, underscoring that polls indicate that none of them has been able to emerge in the minds of Republican voters as the candidate best able to fix the broken immigration system.
Party officials in key primary states said yesterday that the candidate who can win voters' trust on immigration could make significant gains. Polls indicate that Republicans care more than Democrats about the issue and support a harder line against illegal immigrants.
"It's a very significant issue in America that few politicians are willing to tackle head-on, and when they do, they tackle it the wrong way," said Karen Hanretty, a Thompson spokeswoman. She said Thompson will trumpet his plan today in South Carolina, which holds the first Southern primary, on Jan. 19, and will address it Saturday in Iowa, which holds the first caucus, on Jan. 3.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
All of us Duncan Hunter supporters are still waiting for Duncan Hunter to finally make some serious political traction. Sigh.
The primaries haven’t started yet, so we’ll have to see how big of a mistake it may have been. I think maybe the immigration issue doesn’t resonate so strongly in Iowa.
And I, too, John will be more than happy to welcome you into the Duncan Hunter 2008 camp when the time comes for you, too, if and when Mr. Thompson’s star begins to fade. :-) Very best regards,
A straw poll, though better than an Internet poll, is still much less reliable than a sample from a trusted source (i.e., Rasmussen, Mason-Dixon, etc.)
Are you kidding me??? Have you been called by one of these “trusted sources”? I haven’t and my phone number is listed in the phone book. So...that theory holds no truth. In fact, the Texas Straw Poll showed how true active Republicans feel about Duncan Hunter. Remember, only current state delegates or those who had been a delegate in the previous election were allowed to vote. So...not just any “joe blow” off the street could vote in that straw poll. That right there is something that holds its weight in gold.
I think that these pollsters find the lowest common demographic and call them. These are the people out there who aren’t even thinking about the election. They are saying Fred Thompson because they know him from TV and the news (if they even watch). So honestly, those polls mean NOTHING. How many of your neighbors are thinking about the election already? I have a lot of friends from work etc, and when I talk about the next President, they say “when is the election again?” They can’t believe that even a year out, we are already campaigning.
[QUOTE]If for NO other reason, this would get me to support Fred, if I wasn’t already!! [\QUOTE]
He’s starting to sound better & better......
I might add, too, that people who forsake their principles and vote for liberal republicans in the main elections, do just as much harm as if voting for democrats.
If we don’t vote conservative, we get liberal, no matter what election we’re talking about. Party doesn’t matter.
You forgot the earmarks.
This is a pattern— personal attacks. You implied on another thread that I was unpatriotic because I disagree with Hunter’s protectionism.
Daddy always told me the best way to judge a persons future performance was to look where that person had already traveled. With Fred and his many fellow pretenders I’m afraid all this rhetoric about getting tough on illegal immigration if you’ll only elect “me” president kind of rings hollow.
Awesome post. You hit the nail on the head.
ONLY THE GLOB (sic) covered this story?!
there was NOTHING on CNN, PMSNBC or FOX NEWS.
The MSM is doing bias by omission for the 2008 election.
It is a race for last place between him and tancredo.
The same as for the last year.
both need to retire from the field.
All you Duncan Hunter fans can be proud that he won our poll “(10/23) Who would you vote for if you were not afraid that your candidate might not win? “ but sorry to say he can’t win the whole Enchilada. Fred can. Let’s team up. Hope we can still be friends afterwards no matter who wins the nomination.
straw polls are more irrelevant than a MSM reporters opinion.
Should we count the ronpaul staw pol victories?
Hunter continues to lag in money and polling. He is finished.
If he had any traction he would be attacked by the MSM. They are ignoring him.
Huckabee is being pushed to split the south.
Giuliani’s GOP leadership supporters are talking about taking votes away from southern primaries to help Giuliani.
This is a three man race between Thomspon (R), Romney (R) and Clinton Clone (R). ALL the remianing candidates are just there to split votes from Thompson and Romney to assure Clinton Clone Giuliani wins. A vote for ANY of the Fruitless Five is a vote for clinton.
they may be parroting hunter, but they are delivering the message much better.
Perhaps the perfect answer is a Thompson- Hunter ticket. That way Fred can convince us he means it, and Hunter can be in charge of the plan ala Cheney when they win....
It's not a word, but for some, it's a way of life... /grin
I am thoroughly impressed with Hunter's record on this subject, but he really *does* need a position paper. This is a national primary campaign, and you know as well as I that most voters won't do their own research on this stuff.
He's got to spoon-feed the electorate or he'll never get out of the starting blocks. If he doesn't understand that, then he's in the wrong business.
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