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Bloomberg’s Ramesh Ponnuru: Immigration Is the New Litmus Test for GOP
Breitbart.com ^ | 9 Jan 2016 | Julia Hahn

Posted on 01/09/2016 6:34:17 PM PST by Rockitz

In a Friday Bloomberg op-ed, Ramesh Ponnuru details how “immigration is rapidly becoming a defining issue for American conservatism.” Ponnuru suggests that this may prove problematic for donor-class favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who supports immigration expansions—which Pew Research says are opposed by more than 9 in 10 GOP voters.

Just as conservative candidates for President cannot be selected if they support abortion, Obamacare or gun control, Ponnuru explains that the new litmus test of conservatism is immigration. “Conservatives are now starting to see a candidate’s position on immigration as an index of his conservatism in general,” Ponnuru writes.

Ponnuru notes how the conservative creed’s adoption of immigration limits mirrors the Party’s transformation on the issue of abortion. That is, just as today a conservative candidate cannot run for president supporting abortion, they can no longer run for president supporting amnesty and transformative large-scale immigration:

Abortion politics followed a similar trajectory. Opposing abortion wasn’t always considered part and parcel of conservatism. Everybody considered Senator John Tower of Texas a movement conservative even though he supported legal abortion. Over time, though, as conservatives grew more opposed to abortion and liberals more supportive of it, it became an issue that voters used to sort candidates by ideology… voters who knew that a candidate opposed it could also be reasonably sure that he would oppose gun control and tax increases — or, at least, that he was more likely to oppose it than someone who favored legal abortion. Candidates who favored legal abortion started to have real trouble getting support from a lot of conservative voters. Eventually, such candidates came to be seen as not being conservatives at all. Today, favoring tighter control of immigration is becoming a stand-in for conservatism in the same way.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: immigration; rubio2016
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To: Rockitz

close and seal all US borders. 0 new immigration for 20 years


21 posted on 01/09/2016 7:05:13 PM PST by LeoWindhorse
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To: Rockitz

“Just as conservative candidates for President cannot be selected if they support abortion, Obamacare or gun control, Ponnuru explains that the new litmus test of conservatism is immigration. Conservatives are now starting to see a candidate’s position on immigration as an index of his conservatism in general, Ponnuru writes.”

Looks like it took the GOPe rough AN ENTIRE DECADE to realize that Immigration is “not just another issue”, but even MORE IMPORTANT to most of us than even gun control...since if you flood the country with Democrats, the GOP position on gun control (or any other issue) simply will not matter (aka, California).

It finally boiled over this campaign. The GOPe can be with us on 100 other issues, but if they’re not with us on immigration, WE ARE THROUGH WITH THEM. They either need to accept what we want and come along, or we will PUSH THEM OUT OF THE WAY.

That simple.


22 posted on 01/09/2016 7:11:04 PM PST by BobL (Who cares? He's going to build a wall and stop this invasion.)
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To: a fool in paradise

disable thing = desirable thing


23 posted on 01/09/2016 7:13:00 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: BobL

AMEN!


24 posted on 01/09/2016 7:24:35 PM PST by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: central_va
You have laws or you don't. You have borders or you don't. You have a country or you don't.

Very well said.

25 posted on 01/09/2016 8:18:49 PM PST by Always A Marine
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To: Rockitz

Conservatives are very concerned about immigration for obvious reasons. For example, there will be nothing American left to conserve if we let it become Mexico-North. Like most conservatives, I’m not opposed to immigration under our terms. As long as immigrants want to truly assimilate and fill a particular need—no problem, but that’s not what’s happening. They aren’t assimilating, and they’re taking jobs from Americans. That’s not right and has to stop!


26 posted on 01/09/2016 9:03:25 PM PST by CitizenUSA (Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.)
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To: Rockitz
Sorry to disappoint but 1st and 2nd generations have taken every advantage of government programs given to them on the basis of their immigration status.

They are now fully enamored with the Santa Clause party, offering them more and more of "our stuff!"

27 posted on 01/09/2016 9:34:37 PM PST by zerosix (Native Sunflower)
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To: Rockitz

I guess the real question about immigration is - Why do all the other counties in the world suck? Why makes all the other countries so horrible that their people want to leave?


28 posted on 01/10/2016 2:37:29 AM PST by Cowboy Bob (With Trump & Cruz, America can't lose!)
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To: Rockitz

29 posted on 01/10/2016 6:51:56 AM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Rockitz

As well it should be. Republican Party/conservatism/America won’t survive unless there’s functional control over immigration.


30 posted on 01/10/2016 12:09:11 PM PST by Behind the Blue Wall
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