Infinite MonkeysThe Associated Press (I refuse to link), in full Kerry Cheerleader mode, today gives us 83 year old Dorothy from Yuma, AZ. Apparently, all the information Doro got on Kerry was from Rush Limbaugh's show. Ahh, but then came Wednesday's debate, and she saw the real John Kerry. And she was impressed. Blah, blah, blah.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE!! That's not what she said on Rush today.
According to "Undecided Dorothy" (A Gore voter, 2000), she was persuaded to vote for Kerry because Bush's last answer on immigration showed he is not strong enough on controlling illegal immigration. Of course, Kerry said nothing about the issue in his answer, because he can't. And, of course, the AP lied about her reason for now supporting Kerry.
Forget Dorothy for a moment. What we have is just another example of Bush potentially losing votes on the immigration issue, where he is absolutely atrocious. But Kerry and his media supporters just cannot bring themselves to go there to get that vote.
Bush remains seriously exposed on his right flank on immigration, but in light of the Dems utter refusal to take advantage of this weakness, it is becoming a non-issue. So what if the American people support tighter controls on our borders. So what if Chechen terrorists are sneaking across the border. So long as the Democrats see unrestricted (illegal) immigration as fodder for the welfare state, and businesses see it as a source for cheap labor, nobody will care.
Maybe when another few thousand Americans die in a terrorist attack by immigration violators, something will be done. Until then, don't hold your breath.
CAVEAT: I think this is an argument for having contested primaries, but not for voting against Bush. That still remains a very bad option in this election.
The idea of voting for Kerry over Bush on the single issue of immigration is patently ridiculous.
Bush is wide open for attack on immigration. His policies have made the borders less secure rather than more, and his weak assertion during the debate that things have greatly improved since 9/11 because of 1000 additional agents and "new equipment" implies that he hasn't been paying much attention, former "border governor" though he is.
But...the fact that Kerry was not prepared to nail Bush to the wall on this issue during the debate indicates one of two things: A) Like Bush, Kerry considers the Latino vote more important than a secure border, or B) He just doesn't think the issue is important enough to have studied up on it.
In fact, Kerry thought the issue so piddling that he used half his rebuttal time to answer the *previous* question. When he did get around to addressing immigration, his response was pitched almost entirely toward the issue of Mexican workers (amnesty and guest worker programs), not toward the significant percentage of OTM illegals who make the border a major security issue.
On immigration, both candidates are equally inept. Neither has described a concrete plan that addresses the issue. As such, anyone who claims their choice for President rests on the immigration issue is either full of crap, or very confused. The fact that this particular lady chose Yuma as the location to live out the rest of her years leads me to assume the latter.
Posted by: Steve-O at October 15, 2004 03:08 PMIt did sound like she cared about the issue because she lived in Arizona (near the border). But on Limbaugh's show, Dorothy said she was born and raised in ... San Francisco.
Posted by: JamesPh. at October 15, 2004 06:24 PM