I am Arizonan. When Reagan ran in '80, I was one of the first putting together his state organization. John Rhodes was my neighbor. When he retired with cancer and John McCain ran for his seat I opposed McCain. I have opposed him since. I don't like him and he doesn't like me. I think that I was third or fourth on the McCain list and I made no bones about my opposition when I joined. What made me switch and support him? A lot of it was the outright lying about who McCain was. The kind of crap on that list. That is loony stuff.
The Republican Party is big. The regions and people in it have differences. They also have interests in common. So long as we can stitch together our common interests, anyone is welcome in the Party.
I will tell you one thing, though, there is no room for a George Wallace wing of the Republican Party. We have made a concerted effort to keep the Liberty Lobbies, The White Citizens Councils, the Birchers, the conspiracists away from any role in the Party. I will fight until I die to keep them out. If that is your wont, then go, go and find another party.
Immigration is a legitimate issue. It's not real high on my priority list but I have to give as well as take in hammering out the platform. One thing that I won't let it become is a racial, back to Africa type movement. Republicans led on Women's suffrage, Civil Rights for Blacks, and citizenship for Indians. If anyone thinks that that long tradition is going to be lost is dead wrong. It was a Republican who sent the 101st into Little Rock. Anyone who thinks that they can hide behind false notions of States Rights to use the power of government to deny Constitutional liberties to anyone is likely to meet them again.
What kind of Grand Canyon-sized FALSE accusation was that? You likening me to George Wallace is from the exact same playbook as Congressman John Lewis likening Sarah Palin to George Wallace because she accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists!”
Your accusation is an over-reach of epic proportions on my statement “illegal amnesty nightmare.” That isn’t racial. That isn’t hateful. Illegal amnesty is a nightmare because it is ILLEGAL and UNLAWFUL. We have LAWS in this country to assist people who want to move here and become citizens. A Karl Rove political tactic to expand the Republican voting block by turning illegal actions legal overnight is not the answer.
Your racially-charged accusations are inaccurate and misrepresent my statement. As a fellow member of the Republican party, your tactics and lies disgust me.