Monday, January 28, 2008

Florida GOP Primary Update

Well, the spotlight now comes back to the Republican party, with the Florida primary coming up tomorrow.  Again, this state is a bit different than the ones that have already gone, for a couple reasons.  First, it's a closed primary, which means that only Republicans can vote for the Republican candidates (no Independents or Democrats are allowed); second, it's a winner-take-all state, where the winner of Florida will receive all 57 delegates the state has to offer.

So, what's the latest on the GOP candidates?

Up until this past weekend, Romney was running slightly ahead of McCain in Florida polls, but Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed McCain on Saturday, so things have pretty much evened up.  At this point, Rasmussen Reports shows McCain and Romney tied at 31%, Giuliani is a distant third at 16% and Huckabee is in fourth place at 11%. The number of persuadable voters is also dwindling. Only 2% are undecided and just 6% say there's a good chance they could change their mind.  Romney and McCain have pulled away from Giuliani and Huckabee in national polls.

Mud-slinging
There's plenty going around.  The short version is that McCain is accusing Romney of favoring withdrawal timetables for Iraq (which isn't true, and even the MSM figured that out), and Romney is pointing out all the ways in which McCain has supported liberal (rather than conservative) issues.  Here's a bit more information related to that.

McCain's people
Information is coming out about some of McCain's highest-placed advisers.  For example, one of McCain's top advisors -- his Hispanic Outreach Director -- is Dr. Juan Hernandez, a known open-borders advocate with a history of vehement opposition to border security and immigration crackdown.  Hernandez also worked for Mexican President Vicente Fox on the "Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad" program, which was designed to allow Hernandez to travel across the country, meddling with local, state, and federal immigration enforcement on behalf of millions of illegal aliens in America. He lobbied for illegal alien driver's licenses and Mexico first, defended Mexican bus operators carrying illegal aliens to the USA, and promoted extending banking privileges to illegal aliens.  In an interview on ABC News's Nightline, Hernandez stated bluntly that he was betting that the Mexican American population in the United States –all generations– "will think Mexico first…"I want 'em all to think Mexico first."  When McCain was questioned about this appointment by a Florida voter, he gave a non-answer answer.

Next up is McCain's National Finance Co-Chair.  Buckle your seatbelts on this one!  Jerry Perenchio is the billionaire founder of Spanish-language media conglomerate, Univision. He also heads up a charitable foundation (
the Chartwell Foundation) that has showered gobs of money on extremist green lobbying groups.  Some examples:

Funding to Activist Groups Total Donated Time Frame
Natural Resources Defense Council $90,000.00 1995 – 1999
Environmental Media Association $30,000.00 1997 – 2000
American Oceans Campaign $25,000.00 1996 – 1996

He has also provided major funding to Planned Parenthood and open-borders L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  But, he's not done there:

Perenchio also poured millions of dollars into fighting the California movement to teach schoolchildren English.

Perenchio aggressively bankrolled opposition to [California] Prop. 227, which dismantled "bilingual education"–the oxymoronic program that holds foreign-language-speaking students hostage and forces them to maintain their native tongues instead of transitioning to English as quickly as possible–in 1998. He donated millions directly to the opponents and also donated millions of dollars in anti-227 "public service announcements" on Univision railing that "The dreams of millions of Hispanic families are being destroyed." Despite Perenchio's massive campaign to prop up language segregationism, the pro-English Prop. 227 won in a landslide

Perenchio also donated to opponents of Prop. 187, the California measure banning social services to illegal aliens. And he has given money to many soft-on-illegal immigration Democrats. In fact, before jumping ship to Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign, he was the largest individual campaign donor to Gray Davis–contributing at least $500,000 to the liberal Democrat. When voters demanded Davis's recall after he pushed driver's licenses for illegal aliens (among other failed policies), Perenchio chipped in another $50,000 to help Davis supporters fend off the measure. He also gave generously to Bill Richardson's campaigns–$100,000 from him another $50,000 from his wife for the New Mexico Democrat governor's failed presidential bid last year, plus about $167,000 from Perenchio and one of his companies to Richardson's 2002 campaign.

These guys are poster boys for far-left liberal causes.  If McCain has truly 'learned his lesson' from the American people on illegal immigration, and if he's truly a 'Reagan footsoldier' as he claims, what in the world is he doing using people like Hernandez and Perenchio as his top advisers??

In regard to illegal immigration, an issue that many Republicans see as critical,
McCain admitted in a recent interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he would sign last year's amnesty bill if it ever came to his desk as President!  Has he really 'learned his lesson'?

One thing that McCain has relied on in the past is his integrity.  Regardless of his positions, pretty much everyone considered him a straight shooter.  Unfortunately, it appears that now, at the twilight of his political career, he has traded that integrity for some easily-disproved lies about his opponents and his relationship with the American people.  For those of you who like McCain, you'd better think very, very hard about whether you really want this guy running the country.  Also, use your common sense...if the New York Times -- which is one of the most obviously anti-Republican, anti-conservative 'news' outlets in the world -- endorses McCain, doesn't that make you wonder why?

Aside from national security, McCain is essentially a liberal Democrat.  It's not an accusation, it's a fact based on his own record.

There's my two cents.

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