Etch A Sketch: Romney Camp Concedes Kobach Is Adviser; Kobach Concedes Romney Wants SB-1070...
Etch A Sketch: Romney Camp Concedes Kobach Is Adviser; Kobach Concedes Romney Wants SB-1070 Nationwide
By Alex Seitz-Wald
As Mitt Romney pivots to the general election and tries to close his big deficit with Latino voters, his campaign spent this week apparently backtracking on two key aspects of its controversial immigration policy. But it now appears to have come back full circle to its original positions.
First, the campaign tried to distance itself from controversial immigration activist Kris Kobach, the author of Arizona and Alabamas harsh anti-immigration laws. Romney had touted Kobach as an informal adviser, but this week said he was merely a supporter not an adviser. ThinkProgress and others spoke with Kobach, who disputed the claim and said he was still advising the campaign, but nonetheless Romneys staff again stood by their initial statement.
But today, a spokesperson agreed in an email to CNN that Kobach is indeed an informal adviser.
Secondly, the Romney campaign asserted that when the presumed presidential nominee said during a Republican primary debate that Arizona is a model, he was referring to the states E-Verify law, not its anti-immigration law, the Kobach-backed SB-1070.
But newly-confirmed immigration adviser Kobach disputed this as well. He stated very publicly that Arizonas law should be a model for how the federal government enforces its immigration laws. And hes correct there too, Kobach told CNN of SB-1070. Indeed, Romneys self-deportation policy shares the same basic approach as Arizonas law.
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http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/20/468833/romney-reclaims-kobach-1070/