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Political Pandering
Only Pandering, Insincerity, and Political Expediency Do I See
By Scott Rohter, April 2012

Two months ago nearly all of the Republican candidates in the Primary were literally "one-upping" each other to sound tougher on illegal immigration... A border fence, NO amnesty for illegals, NO pathway to citizenship, mandatory use of E-Verify, and tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegals! All of these options were being touted by the candidates. About the only candidate who stood out like a sore thumb was Texas Governor Rick Perry with his soft styled illegal immigration policy of granting in-state college tuition benefits to illegal aliens in Texas. But even that little discontinuity was too much for most Republican voters across the country to bear!

Governor Perry’s position that it wasn’t possible to build a fence along our southern border sounded the death knell to any aspirations that he might have had to become our nation's 45th President. It was a non-starter to most conservatives who want to regain control of our country’s future. And his soft-style Texas illegal immigration policy was the main reason that the TEA Party conservatives never really warmed up to him.

But as the campaign went on, more than just the tone of the rhetoric changed! Newt Gingrich started the shift in position with his soft on illegal immigration answers at the Florida Presidential debates and just prior to the Florida Primary. He said that we had to accommodate the millions of illegal aliens who are already living in the United States, because the Party of family values could not afford to be viewed as breaking up millions of families.

Newt said that we needed to create some sort of a "pathway to citizenship" for illegals who are already living here because it was not practical to expel all of them nor expect them all to return to Mexico. Newt Gingrich’s answers to these questions dealing with illegal immigration spoke to some kind of accommodation and normalization of the status of millions of illegal aliens already living in our country. That was one of the reasons that he didn’t fare so well with the voters either. But in his case there were plenty of other reasons too!

In reality there can be NO accommodation for illegals and NO normalization for people who break our laws and violate our national sovereignty! But what does national sovereignty mean to a twenty plus year member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The answer is NOTHING!

Following Newt's lead, the remaining candidates in the South Carolina and Florida Primaries began fighting with each other to see who could appear kinder, and gentler on the tough question of illegal immigration. And who is the candidate that changed his position the most on illegal immigration during the Primary? Why it is none other than Mr. Flip-flop himself, Mitt Romney! Back in October and December he was saying that he favored a tough immigration policy including building a fence on our southern border. Now in Florida in response to Newt’s accusation that he was "anti-immigrant", Mitt Romney responded that the claim that he is somehow against immigrants is repulsive! “My mother was born in Mexico. My father immigrated to this country from Wales. “The idea that I am ant-immigrant is repulsive [to me]” Romney said... Wow, all of the posturing on illegal immigration sure has changed, hasn't it? Thanks Newt!

This is precisely why our founding fathers stressed the importance of character and integrity. That is why honesty matters more than anything else! That is why George Washington said, “The greatest title of all is to be called an honest man.” No one really knows what the candidates in a political race really mean when they say something anymore, more less what they actually believe in their heart! There is no sincerity in most of the things that Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney are saying right now! There is only insincerity and political expediency as far as the eye can see! John Quincy Adams wrote, “I would rather be found guilty of making a serious mistake in judgment, than to be accused of being even a little bit insincere.”

Depending upon where they are and who they are talking to, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are just telling the voters what they want to hear. To one group they appear tough on immigration. To another group of voters they may appear soft on the same subject. To one group of voters, Romney wants to build a border fence and use tough sanctions against employers who hire "illegals". To another group, he stresses his immigrant background. To one group of voters, Newt believes in smaller government. To another group he is running around the country with Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan promoting increased federal control over education. To one group of voters he is promoting a return to “conservative values.” To another group of voters, Newt Gingrich said that he doesn’t like Right Wing social engineering any more than he likes Left Wing social engineering! Aren’t you all just getting sick and tired of all of this Political Pandering? Don’t you hunger for an honest candidate on the order of a George Washington?

"The truth, the political truth, and nothing but the political truth. A journalist has no better friend than the truth." - Scott Rohter
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