Debating Iraq, Immigration & Fred Thompson
The absence of Fred Thompson at Thursday’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate in New Hampshire brought out some clever quibs from the other contenders. “Maybe we’re up past his bedtime…” commented Senator John McCain. Thompson’s delay in declaring his candidacy prompted Former Governor Mitt Romney to add “Why not take some more time off?” From former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani “I think he’s done a pretty good job of playing my part on Law & Order.” Thompson, the former Senator from Tennessee, opted instead to make an appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Fox News moderator Mike Wallace would move on to immigration reminding Romney “you have gone after Mayor Giuliani for running what you say was sanctuary city for illegals” while doing nothing as Massachusetts Governor about Cambridge or Somerville “which proclaimed themselves to be sanctuaries.” He then brought up a statement made two years ago by then Arkansas Governor Huckabee that state legislation to crack down on illegal immigration was “inflammatory and race-baiting.” As holders of executive positions, these three leave a track record on dealing with the issue and are particularly vulnerable. But nothing from the other Republican candidates equals the crass disregard for citizens who have suffered the dislocations of massive immigration as the insults from Huckabee.
In his defense, Giuliani described the lack of cooperation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“… the year before I was mayor [1993], the immigration service stopped taking names from the police department of people that the police department were reporting… I had 400,000 illegal immigrants … The federal government deported only 758 people that year from New York City.”
Wallace then pursued the issue with McCain who was a staunch supporter of the recently failed federal comprehensive immigration reform legislation which was solidly rebuffed by the public. A constant critic of Romney for flip-flopping on issues including immigration, he has also made comment on a misstep Romney made regarding Second Amendment rights in which he claimed to be a hunter. It would latter be uncovered that he never took out a hunting license to which he responded he had a gun used for varmints. It would also be discovered Romney’s lawn service employed illegals. Wallace brought up a past question asked of McCain regarding Romney’s position on immigration in which McCain replied “Maybe his solution will be to get his small varmint gun and run the Guatemalans off his lawn.” But McCain would echo a section of the immigration bill saying “we need a temporary worker program.”
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo and California Representative Duncan Hunter, both staunch critics of the immigration reform legislation, continued their call for increased border security and enforcement of existing laws to much applause. Their concerns were shared by patrons of a nearby cafe that was part of the broadcast. A local law enforcement official exclaimed
“… we’re overwhelmed in the street. I mean, just the crimes are getting more violent. They’re out of control. We can’t communicate with these immigrants. My concern is these illegal immigrants get here … what makes you think that they’re going to follow any of these rules put in place?”
Similar sentiment brought so many calls to the Senate office building on the eve of he vote on the immigration reform bill it brought down the phone system. Of particular concern was that a guest worker program McCain supports becomes amnesty.
In response to a question from moderator Britt Hume regarding McCain’s position in support of the reform bill’s provisions Romney explained
“… the Z visa that was offered in that Senate bill let everybody who’s here illegally, other than criminals, stay here for the rest of their lives. And may not be technically amnesty, bit it is certainly amnesty in fact.”
Romney elaborated on the issue continuing with points gained from discussions with San Diego border patrol about ending the appeal of illegal immigration stating
“… the magnets are sanctuary cities and having employers sign people up that have come here illegally to do work here… You have to cut back on federal funding to cities that continue to call themselves sanctuary cities and welcome people in, as New York has done.”
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback would finally be brought into the forum when moderator Wendall Goler brought up the issue of family values with a question about questionable behavior by Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. Similarly, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas would remain on the sidelines until asked to address a gun issue. With the importance the public has ascribed to immigration it might seem all candidates should espouse a position on the issue. However, the Democratic YouTube debate ignored it entirely. They chose health care as a major issue which the Republicans chose to ignore here.
A question for Huckabee from Mike Wallace sums up Giuliani and Romney’s statements on abortion:
“… do you see any real difference between Governor Romney’s willingness to allow legalized abortion in some states [states rights] and Mayor Giuliani’s support — effective support — for a woman’s right to choose?”
His response makes his appeal to staunch conservatives quite clear:
“I would love to see us have in this country what I helped lead in our state… that’s a human life amendment to our state constitution. .. that says that we believe life begins at conception, and that we ought to do everything in the world possible to protect it until its natural conclusion.”
Wendall Goler brought up the topic of gun control reminding Congressman Paul he had said that “the 9/11 attackers might have had second thoughts if they’d felt that some passengers aboard the airplanes might have been armed.” The absurdity of such a notion is obvious even in the absence of terrorists. The 1988 Libertarian Party nominee for president would offer his reasoning:
“… we assumed the government was going to take care of us. After 9/11, instead of moving toward the direction of personal responsibility and private property and second amendment, we moved in the opposite direction. We turned it over to the federal government. And look at the mess we have now at airports.”
I suppose Congressman Paul believes the management of the World Trade Center should have hired mercenaries to invade Afghanistan and pursue Bin Laden. His distorted interpretation of Libertarian values would be extended even further when questioned about Iraq:
“Why would we leave troops in the region? It was the fact we had troops in Saudi Arabia — was one of three reasons given for the attack on 9/11… They don’t want our troops on the Arabian Peninsula… going into Iraq and Afghanistan and threatening Iran is the worst thing we can do for our antional security…”
Mike Wallace would eventually comment with a question:
“… you’re basically saying that we should take our marching orders from A Qaida? If they want us off the Arabian Peninsula, we should leave?”
Moving on to Bromback what we hear is near to an echo of Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s contention the country should be divided:
“Iraq is less a country than it is three groups held together by exterior forces. It’s Kurds in the north, the Sunni in the west, the Shia in the south, and a mixed city in Baghdad.”
Few countries in existence would meet the standards for cultural homogeneity to meet the standards of Bromback and Biden with the possible exception of Japan. Further, the struggles between competing factions in the region over these territories would lead to greater strife for the Iraqis as a whole. Moderator Wendell Goler point this out in a follow up question:
“… if you do that kinkd of less federation, hot do you keep the Kurds in the north from fighting with Turkey, how do you keep the Shia from allying with Iran, and how do you keep the Sunnis from rebelling over having no oil resources?”
This would bring Bromback to acknowledge that we will have a long term commitment in the region one way or another. The other candidates, Congressman Paul being the exception, would acknowledge the “Surge” is working, that we have a commitment there for some time to come and the influence of the report in the coming week from General Petraeus in determining our continued course of action. Tancrado would add an important reminder that “The war is with redial Islam” and that “We cannot leave because this is not a war that will end with our departure.”
And what about Fred Thompson? If you visited the first segment of his Leno Appearance above you saw him cover most elements of the debate before concluding with his announcement to much applause. He further notes the expanded election cycle where in the past the campaign season didn’t begin until fall. This time it’s been underway for the better part of the year. Maybe he already knew what Hilary Clinton and John Edwards learned, namely that third tier candidates are trivializing the debate and would wait them out.
A video on his website, Fred Thompson Announces his Candidacy for President, is well crafted reiterating his positions. Critics contend he can’t stand the scrutiny of the debate, that you can’t win without shaking hands with the voters in New Hampshire and Iowa, that he can’t raise the necessary money this late and doesn’t have a ground game. He was second only to Rudy Giuliani in the national polls before announcing his candidacy. It may he he’s not too late, but that everyone else has jumped the gun and their honeymoon with the voters will be over before the election. [ro_9]