Now that John McCain has ruined any possible chance he had to win his party's nomination for the Presidency, let's take a look at the other two potential front-runners statements on the issue.
First, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani...issued through his Communications Director, Katie Levinson:
"Rudy's top priority and main objective is to ensure our borders are secure and to stop potential terrorists and criminals from coming in. The recent Fort Dix plot is a stark reminder that the threat of terrorism has made immigration an important matter of national security. We need to know who is coming in and who is going out of this country if we are going to deal with those who are here illegally."
It's slightly odd to me that kind of statement on that kind of an issue came through a spokesperson and not from the Mayor himself.
Now...let's look at former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's statement:
"I strongly oppose today's bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new 'Z-Visa' does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S."
"Today's Senate agreement falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country's illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system. Border security and a reliable employment verification system must be our first priority."
There's a stark difference between the two statements: Romney calls today's immigration deal the "wrong approach" and calls this what it is: amnesty.
We don't get that in Rudy's statement, do we? That's because Rudy hasn't exactly spoken tough on immigration until recently. Before he ran for President, Mayor Giuliani sued all the way up to the Supreme Court to allow New York to remain a sanctuary city for immigrants. Now, he says he never supported a sanctuary policy.
This issue just made a lot of Conservatives and Republicans single-issue voters and it could very well put Mitt Romney in a comfortable lead for the GOP nomination.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
