Battleground: California--The 50th Congressional Race
Leave it to the Left to say what they really mean, then try to take it back. That is, what I believe, happened to Francine Busby on thursday night while addressing a rally, according to the San Diego Union Tribune:
If an election can turn on a sentence, this could be the one: “You don't need papers for voting.”
On Thursday night, Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate for the 50th Congressional District, was speaking before a largely Latino crowd in Escondido when she uttered those words. She said yesterday she simply misspoke.
But someone taped it and a recording began circulating yesterday. After she made that statement at the meeting, Busby immediately said: “You don't need to be a registered voter to help (the campaign).”
She said that subsequent statement was to clarify what she meant.
The recording, which was played yesterday on Roger Hedgecock's radio talk show, jolted the campaign.
Busby, a Cardiff school board member, is in a tight race with Republican Brian Bilbray, a congressman-turned-lobbyist, who has based his campaign on a tough anti-illegal-immigration stance. Busby has focused her campaign on ethics reform. The two are vying to replace Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who was jailed after pleading guilty to taking bribes.
Busby said she was invited to the forum at the Jocelyn Senior Center in Escondido by the leader of a local soccer league. Many of the 50 or so people there were Spanish speakers. Toward the end, a man in the audience asked in Spanish: “I want to help, but I don't have papers.”
It was translated and Busby replied: “Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely, you can all help. You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to be a registered voter to help.”
Bilbray said at worst, Busby was encouraging someone to vote illegally. At best, she was encouraging someone who is illegally in the country to work on her campaign.
“She's soliciting illegal aliens to campaign for her and it's on tape – this isn't exactly what you call the pinnacle of ethical campaign strategy,” Bilbray said. “I don't know how she shows her face.”
At a time where well over half of the country is demanding a change from the status quo in terms of immigration and border security, Ms. Busby is willing to throw them under the bus. This is why these races are important. California's 50th is the one where "Duke" Cunningham was before he plead guilty to federal charges. The seat is vacant, and every member of the House is up for reelection. This is a key race, and could help shift the balance in California when it comes to the House. (Granted, we could only hope for a McCain-like RINO rather than a Chafee RINO, but hey improvement is improvement.)
This is the nail in her coffin. It needs to be hammered home (no pun intended) that as a supporter of the McCain immigration reform, she is for amnesty. That is what the McCain bill amounts to. (And only McCain would pull a stunt like this in an off-year for him; he wouldn't dare try this in 2010 when he's up for reelection, or in 2008 if he decides to run for president.) The voters in California need to ask themselves one simple question:
Are they better off now, under the status quo for immigration? Will they be better under Ms. Busby's endorsed stance? If the answer to either is no, then the answer to Ms. Busby is no.
Publius II
Leave it to the Left to say what they really mean, then try to take it back. That is, what I believe, happened to Francine Busby on thursday night while addressing a rally, according to the San Diego Union Tribune:
If an election can turn on a sentence, this could be the one: “You don't need papers for voting.”
On Thursday night, Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate for the 50th Congressional District, was speaking before a largely Latino crowd in Escondido when she uttered those words. She said yesterday she simply misspoke.
But someone taped it and a recording began circulating yesterday. After she made that statement at the meeting, Busby immediately said: “You don't need to be a registered voter to help (the campaign).”
She said that subsequent statement was to clarify what she meant.
The recording, which was played yesterday on Roger Hedgecock's radio talk show, jolted the campaign.
Busby, a Cardiff school board member, is in a tight race with Republican Brian Bilbray, a congressman-turned-lobbyist, who has based his campaign on a tough anti-illegal-immigration stance. Busby has focused her campaign on ethics reform. The two are vying to replace Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who was jailed after pleading guilty to taking bribes.
Busby said she was invited to the forum at the Jocelyn Senior Center in Escondido by the leader of a local soccer league. Many of the 50 or so people there were Spanish speakers. Toward the end, a man in the audience asked in Spanish: “I want to help, but I don't have papers.”
It was translated and Busby replied: “Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely, you can all help. You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to be a registered voter to help.”
Bilbray said at worst, Busby was encouraging someone to vote illegally. At best, she was encouraging someone who is illegally in the country to work on her campaign.
“She's soliciting illegal aliens to campaign for her and it's on tape – this isn't exactly what you call the pinnacle of ethical campaign strategy,” Bilbray said. “I don't know how she shows her face.”
At a time where well over half of the country is demanding a change from the status quo in terms of immigration and border security, Ms. Busby is willing to throw them under the bus. This is why these races are important. California's 50th is the one where "Duke" Cunningham was before he plead guilty to federal charges. The seat is vacant, and every member of the House is up for reelection. This is a key race, and could help shift the balance in California when it comes to the House. (Granted, we could only hope for a McCain-like RINO rather than a Chafee RINO, but hey improvement is improvement.)
This is the nail in her coffin. It needs to be hammered home (no pun intended) that as a supporter of the McCain immigration reform, she is for amnesty. That is what the McCain bill amounts to. (And only McCain would pull a stunt like this in an off-year for him; he wouldn't dare try this in 2010 when he's up for reelection, or in 2008 if he decides to run for president.) The voters in California need to ask themselves one simple question:
Are they better off now, under the status quo for immigration? Will they be better under Ms. Busby's endorsed stance? If the answer to either is no, then the answer to Ms. Busby is no.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 9:02 PM
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