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I disagree. That’s not where the republican voters are. Romney CAN make a case on the immigration issue that will resonate, but it has to be more nuanced than the Huckabee “sign my soul away” position. Romney gets support from smart people who see him as a smart guy who will get things done. The NEW Huckabee sign-the-pledge position isn’t “getting things done”, except for those whose only goal is to punish people who like our country, and who could care less about whether there is any compelling societal benefit in a “better way”.

After all, If you really want rabit anti-illegal-immigrant, you can just go with Huckabee now, he’s signed the pledge. McCain is way to liberal on immigration, but you need to grab the middle ground.

The problem is that part of the solution to illegal immigration is a guest worker program that ensures americans get first cut, but provides labor for work that needs to be done when there are no americans doing the work, at a real wage and with controls to make sure the immigrants leave when they are done.

This has nothing to do with “punishing the illegals”, we can punish them and kick them out AND do guest worker, but the “coalition” which stopped amnesty had to include everybody who opposed foreigners, including major organizations like NumbersUSA who really are opposed to immigration in all it’s forms.

Romney COULD be the smart man who shows the right way through the minefield, but I don’t know if it’s possible because I’ve been in that position and both sides destroy you.

In my view, Romney has to stop responding to McCain, and just be himself. Look how it works for Obama. People are drawn to hope, to positive views. Romney’s biggest flaw is that he has a campaign staff that is too negative — which is why so many people hate him.

It reminds me of the George Allen campaign from last year. Allen is a likeable guy, but he hired a campaign staff of cutthroats, who frankly destroyed Allens’ reputation. It seems that in some ways that’s what happened to Romney. He was considered liberal before, but never nasty. Now he’s hated. And I don’t think his own words are the problem, it’s how his campaign operated.

I also think it’s unfair, but it’s real.

Anyway, in the end, I figure if Romney can’t turn this around himself by giving people a reason to vote FOR him, rather than a reason to vote against McCain, then he doesn’t deserve the nomination. Wanting peple to vote for him is all I can do — I can’t make people vote for him. He’s got to make that happen.