Francine Busby: The First Casualty of McCain-Kennedy Immigration Policy
A special election was held last evening to fill the seat of convicted felon Randy "Duke" Cunningham in California's 50th Congressional District. This election in the Republican-leaning district in the wealthy suburbs of San Diego County was considered a bellwether of how extreme the anti-Republican tide has become. After all, Cunningham was the poster child of the Democrats' "culture of corruption" theme and is now serving a prison sentence for bribery, and his 2004 Democratic challenger, Francine Busby, came to the race with solid name recognition. The Republican primary winner, former Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray, was no slouch either though. The heavily-hyped could have went either way and polls showed the race to be tight.
The outcome last night: Republican Bilbray beat Busby by more than four percentage points. While the race was far from a landslide, Busby barely exceeded John Kerry's 2004 performance of 44% in the district (she got 45.4%), indicating the alleged momentum the Democrats claim to have going into the 2006 midterms may not live up to expectations. So what stole Busby's thunder in the final week of the campaign? One word....immigration. It's a smoldering hot issue, and one where George Bush, John McCain, and the majority of Congressional Democrats embrace an unpopular position, particularly in this district so close to the Mexican border. Francine Busby made it clear that she supported the fantastical McCain-Kennedy immigration plan and can most likely thank her morning-after tears on that decision.
I think most Americans are probably like me on immigration. We don't agree with the idea of deportation or "attrition" of the 12 million illegals here in America like the punitive House Republican bill supports, but we at least admire the fact that the House conservatives are playing it straight with us and seriously address an issue that is significantly impacting our communities, our schools, and our jobs. The Democrats, on the other hand, with their buddies George Bush and John McCain, are taking the public for fools with the premise that illegal immigration can be stymied through a "guest worker program". Nobody, including the program's supporters, can honestly expect the 115,000 guest workers foisted into the American job market EVERY MONTH will choose to go back to Mexico or their country of origin when their visa runs out, but that's what proponents of McCain-Kennedy would like us to believe. Similarly, nobody really believes that the visas issued to guest workers will be sufficient enough to employ every Mexican immigrant who wants to come into America, thus bringing to a screeching halt illegal border crossings and negating the need for real-world border enforcement. But again, Bush, McCain and Congressional Democrats would like us to believe that.
At this rate, the Democrats will be lucky to come out of the 2006 midterms with as many seats as they have right now. Marginal Democrats, particularly in the South, will succumb to defeat at the hands of hard-line anti-immigration opponents who successfully distance themselves from the still unpopular Democratic Party AND the newly unpopular George Bush. Francine Busby was the first casualty of McCain-Kennedy immigration policy. Expect many more in the months ahead.
The outcome last night: Republican Bilbray beat Busby by more than four percentage points. While the race was far from a landslide, Busby barely exceeded John Kerry's 2004 performance of 44% in the district (she got 45.4%), indicating the alleged momentum the Democrats claim to have going into the 2006 midterms may not live up to expectations. So what stole Busby's thunder in the final week of the campaign? One word....immigration. It's a smoldering hot issue, and one where George Bush, John McCain, and the majority of Congressional Democrats embrace an unpopular position, particularly in this district so close to the Mexican border. Francine Busby made it clear that she supported the fantastical McCain-Kennedy immigration plan and can most likely thank her morning-after tears on that decision.
I think most Americans are probably like me on immigration. We don't agree with the idea of deportation or "attrition" of the 12 million illegals here in America like the punitive House Republican bill supports, but we at least admire the fact that the House conservatives are playing it straight with us and seriously address an issue that is significantly impacting our communities, our schools, and our jobs. The Democrats, on the other hand, with their buddies George Bush and John McCain, are taking the public for fools with the premise that illegal immigration can be stymied through a "guest worker program". Nobody, including the program's supporters, can honestly expect the 115,000 guest workers foisted into the American job market EVERY MONTH will choose to go back to Mexico or their country of origin when their visa runs out, but that's what proponents of McCain-Kennedy would like us to believe. Similarly, nobody really believes that the visas issued to guest workers will be sufficient enough to employ every Mexican immigrant who wants to come into America, thus bringing to a screeching halt illegal border crossings and negating the need for real-world border enforcement. But again, Bush, McCain and Congressional Democrats would like us to believe that.
At this rate, the Democrats will be lucky to come out of the 2006 midterms with as many seats as they have right now. Marginal Democrats, particularly in the South, will succumb to defeat at the hands of hard-line anti-immigration opponents who successfully distance themselves from the still unpopular Democratic Party AND the newly unpopular George Bush. Francine Busby was the first casualty of McCain-Kennedy immigration policy. Expect many more in the months ahead.
posted by Mark at 7:55 PM
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