Tuesday, October 21, 2014
In Raising Immigration, GOP Risks Backlash After Election
This article talks about the efforts of Republicans running for the Senate to bring up immigration in their campaigns to rally the conservative base. Some within the party are questioning the wisdom of bringing up immigration as they look toward long term immigration overhaul and the 2016 presidential election.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Since New Hampshire has one of the smallest populations of illegal immigrants in the country, I don't think Brown should make the issue so important in his campaign. I get that it makes sense for states with larger populations of illegal immigrants to not bring up the topic so they don't risk losing more votes, but I don't think states that don't really have such an issue with illegal immigration should bring up the topic either. The issue is probably less critical to the people who will be voting for Brown, even if they are conservatives; he should find a more concerning issue to discuss in his campaign. In general, I don't think illegal immigration is right, but I don't think illegal immigrants are a major threat either.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with Rachel. Yes, immigration reform is an important issue at the moment. Illegal immigration specifically however, is not. It is highly unlikely that someone in New Hampshire, who keep in mind lives near one of the largest international lowly guarded borders, would honestly be affected by illegal immigrants.
ReplyDeleteLooking at Colorado, it's a sobering thought to think that parties are now willing to abandon their beliefs, whether justified or not, just to get a vote. What that creates is a loss of credibility when immigration is made an issue in everywhere but one area. If the GOP believes that illegal immigration is a national issue then speak about nationally.
Illegal immigration is a risky subject. However I do not see how/why some from New Hampshire is worrying about that. I do not see the reason for Brown to be attacking this subject so hard. New Hampshire has one of the smallest populations of illegal immigrants, this whole argument seems so random. I agree with Peaches and Maliki that illegal immigration is more of a national issue than a state issue.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make sense to me why a state with one of the smallest populations of illegal immigrants in the country is worrying and campaigning on that issue. Yes the states with greater populations of illegal immigrants should worry about bringing up the topic but they have a reason; they are more affected by the immigrants. This just reinstates that illegal immigration, as Marie said, is a national issue rather than an individual state issue. It should be looked at as a whole rather than individual state pieces.
ReplyDeleteWith one of the smallest populations of illegal immigrants in the country, I don't see why immigration is a big deal in New Hampshire. Why is Scott Brown making an issue of something that really isn't an issue? It would be more beneficial to him, I would think, to campaign about actual issues that a citizen of New Hampshire would care about.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like politics is about the Party, not the people at the moment. The politicians of the two parties do not even have unified national opinions on issues like immigration reform. Would it not make sense for republican politicians who identify with the same party to have at least relatively similar opinions on immigration reform? Instead, we have Brown in New Hampshire trumpeting immigration reform in an area where mention of reform will have little to no affect, while politicians in states with high hispanic populations are too afraid to even bring up the issue. I think our leaders need to be more transparent and focus on the issues that really matter to the people they will be representing. They should not hide their opinions for fear that they might lose a couple of votes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone: why base your campaign solely on one thing that won't even help you in anyway, or in a very little way? Yes, illegal immigration is an important subject, but just like Marie mentioned, it should be treated as a national issue rather than an individual state one. I also agree with Schafer when he mentions that politics is about the Party. It interests me that elections are more about the vote than actually campaigning their true beliefs. yes, it's supposed to be a competition, but at what point does it become just campaigning towards something your specific party is supposed to believe as a whole than campaigning towards what you believe?
ReplyDeleteThe New Hampshire campaign should be focused on ideas that are more relevant to the voters. From my perspective, this campaigning method is comparable to asking people in Arizona about measures that should be taken to prevent metal corrosion from salt used to make roads less icy. I'm not saying that immigration is unimportant at all-- it's a major topic of political discord, but no entire campaign should focus on a single issue. That doesn't represent everything the politician's supporters support. Brown could have republican supporters who agree with him on most topics, excluding border security and immigration, who choose not to vote for him because of his overwhelming focus on an issue that can take the backseat compared to other national and international crises.
ReplyDeleteBrown should not be making the issue of immigration such a key part of his campaign. New Hampshire has very few illegal immigrants within the state. Though this issue does rally conservatives, it may be better that Brown focus on more pressing issues within his state. In general, I do feel that illegal immigration is a growing concern. However, states that border Mexico and have high illegal immigration should be the ones focusing on the issue. The fact that those running in Colorado won't speak about immigration in order to prevent the loss of votes is very concerning.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of this article made me laugh. GOP supporter Mr. Bossie said, “I don’t go through life trying to calculate every single possible way things can and can’t go, because that’s an incredibly negative, jaded way to do things.” To me, it seems that he is saying that he does not like to consider the consequences of his actions. That is just wonderful. In addition to this kind of mindset, the GOP also is very inconsistent on the issue of immigration. While they will rally the hardcore conservatives to vote in the midterm elections, they will hurt their future. Inconsistencies do not look attractive to moderate voters because they confuse voters on what policies the party actually supports. Mr. Ludwig once told our class that he did not think the Republican party would be a viable option for voters much longer. If they keep doing things the same way, this prediction may very well come true in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody else saying that illegal immigration shouldn't have as much of a presence in Brown's campaign as it does, based on the fact that so few illegal immigrants are even in New Hampshire. I'm assuming that Brown is only using this topic because it is one that is sure to rally supporters, and it is easy to make the conditions of the problem sound much worse than they actually are (at least in his specific area, considering illegal immigration is much worse in other areas). The issue could escalate if not addressed such as any other issue, but I feel as if politicians should be more focused on the pressing issues in their communities rather that the issues that are easily blown out of proportion, for the sole purpose of personal gain.
ReplyDeleteIt really says something about the level of awareness that the average American possesses that somebody all the way up in New Hampshire would be concerned with illegal immigration. It has no effect on that person, and because of that ignorance, the GOP can exploit that issue. Although I agree with Nate that the GOPs inconsistency will come back to bite them, I don't blame them for using that issue to curry favor in there states. I blame those living in Kansas and New Hampshire for being naive enough to believe that illegal immigration affects them in any way.
ReplyDelete