NYT: In Bellwether Colorado District, G.O.P. Runs on Immigration

[DeepModem Mom]

In Bellwether District, G.O.P. Runs on Immigration
By CARL HULSE
Published: September 6, 2006


(The New York Times)
The Seventh District, now held by Republicans, is central to the battle for control of the House.

AURORA, Colo. — It was not by chance that Republicans brought their summer tour of hearings on illegal immigration to this growing community just outside Denver.

Not only is Aurora bearing the costs of schooling and providing other services for a significant population of illegal immigrants, it is in the heart of a swing district and so is central to the intense battle for control of the House of Representatives.

And while Congress is unlikely to enact major immigration legislation before November, inaction does not make the issue any less potent in campaigning. In fact, many Republicans, on the defensive here and around the country over the war in Iraq, say they are finding that a hard-line immigration stance resonates not just with conservatives, who have been disheartened on other fronts this year, but also with a wide swath of voters in districts where control of the House could be decided.

“Immigration is an issue that is really popping, “ said Dan Allen, a Republican strategist. “It is an issue that independents are paying attention to as well. It gets us talking about security and law and order.”

Leading Republicans, leery of a compromise on immigration, are encouraging their candidates to keep the focus on border control, as in legislation passed by the House, rather than accept a broader bill that would also clear a path for many illegal immigrants to gain legal status. The latter approach, approved by the Senate with overwhelming Democratic support and backed by the White House, makes illegal immigration one of the issues on which Republicans face a tough choice of standing by President Bush or taking their own path....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/washington/06colorado.html?hp&ex=1157601600&en=12d6490dbd8cec9b&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Demeter]

1. The GOP Wants to Cancel the 14th Amendment

then all these people problems go away. Sheesh!

[eccles12]

2. This is precisely what I was talking about in my other thread. nt