EXCERPTS---Election-year concerns and presidential jockeying are dominating
the congressional debate over President Bush's immigration plan, threatening
to scuttle the chances of an overhaul this year.
The issue, which has exposed deep divisions among Republicans, will spark a
showdown next week in the Senate, with separate plans offered by three GOP
senators, each of whom is exploring a presidential run in 2008.
The chances of passing an immigration overhaul could crumble under the
weight of dueling presidential ambitions and election-year worries. Still,
the debate will give Republicans seeking re-election this year a chance to
shape their messages and cast key votes on immigration. And for those
considering presidential bids, it offers a chance to test their arguments on
the subject.
Frist and McCain are using contrasting strategies in trying to gain the
advantage in the immigration debate, said Tamar Jacoby, an analyst at the
conservative Manhattan Institute.
Frist is gambling that Republican primary voters will reward him for a tough
approach, she said, and McCain is betting that the party faithful would
prefer a plan that can address the vexing issue of what to do with the
immigrants already here.
"Frist is thinking that the answer is crack down, and that's what the public
will like, and McCain is saying solve it, and that's what the public is
looking for," Jacoby said.
"Nobody's there yet. This is still no-man's land."
A groundswell of pressure for immigration changes has swept the nation in
recent months, transforming the issue from an intense but parochial area of
concern among residents of border states to one that worries a broad swath
of voters who live nowhere near a checkpoint, including those in Maryland.
There is widespread support for addressing immigration problems, including
among Republicans, according to public polls. An ABC poll in January found
that 57 percent of those questioned disapproved of the way Bush was handling
the issue, and an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll this month found that 71
percent would be more likely to support a candidate who favored tighter
controls on illegal immigration.
Next page:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.immigration25mar25,0,2221741.story?page=2&coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
So, Frist wants to be President. HAHAHAHA! Like he was the "Doctor" who
said Teri Shiavo could dunk some hoops after looking at a video tape fr 15
seconds?
Frist is an ***** who condones profiling Americans.
A line from a poem, "The New Colossus," by the nineteenth-century
American poet Emma Lazarus. "The New Colossus," describing the Statue of
Liberty, appears on a plaque at the base of the statue. It ends with the
statue herself speaking:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
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