Palin should have stayed out of the AZ GOP primary period.
I agree but it would have been hard. She’d have the press asking her if she endorsed McCain and she would have to answer with the old “I respect John McCain and JD Hayworth and will let the voters decide.” McQueeg would have blown a stack and may have hurt her politically and openly rather than the “behind the scenes” stuff you are talking about.
I also understand what you are saying about words used around amnesty. My view is that Palin isn’t doing what you think she is. The O’Reilly interview was high pressure on her; O’Reilly pressed hard. I think she came off very well, because she stood her ground on border control and no amnesty without looking like a Pollyanna that thinks that we can deport 11 million illegals in a month. She doesn’t have a campaign organization right now, so she doesn’t have position papers and how to finesse difficult issues or explain difficult issues, vetted by campaign managers etc. She has to shoot from the hip and she is really good at it. We’ll see what her position is when she has the lay of the land closer to primary vote time and has decided what to press for and what not to. No way any Republican survives the primaries with an open border stance right? (but see . . . McCain . . . if we split the conservative vote we get a RINO).
She did not come off very well among those of us who know the immigration issue. She has hurt herself among organizations like NumbersUSA, FAIR, CIS, and my own organization. She is considered to be a pro-amnesty advocate and if she throws her hat in the ring, we will target her. The issue of amnesty is a game changer.
The Heritage Foundation concluded that the cost of amnesty alone would be $2.6 trillion in just entitlement costs. And the number of additional LEGAL immigrants who would join those who were the recipients of amnesty through chain migration, i.e., family reunification, would approach 70 million over a 20-year period, assuming there are only 12 million illegal aliens. We cannot assimilate such numbers. An amnesty would destroy the United States of America with the stroke of a pen.
The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between a blanket amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. In reality, we have other choices and alternatives that don’t reward people who have broken our laws with the right to stay and work here and an eventual path to citizenship. The 12 to 20 million illegal aliens did not enter this country overnight and they will not leave overnight. Attrition through enforcement works. We have empirical data from Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arizona proving that it does.
Palin could have used the attrition thru enforcment response. It is a phony strawman to think that anyone proposes deporting 11 million illegal aliens in a month or that we need to have mass deportation. Palin is trying to have it both ways. She is deluded if she thinks she will receive a majority of Hispanic votes or more than 40% for that matter.