Immigration likely topic for GOP debate By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 46 minutes ago
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Republican divisions over immigration loomed large as the 10 GOP presidential candidates gathered in the early primary state of New Hampshire for their third debate.
Hours before the debate, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., tried to pre-empt criticism of legislation he helped craft for President Bush, telling an audience in Gilford, N.H.: "Do I think it's perfect? No. I would remind you the Democrats are in majority in both houses now and we have to deal with them to resolve this issue."
McCain stands alone among GOP hopefuls in backing the bipartisan bill. The measure would tighten security on the Mexican border while allowing some of the 12 million illegal immigrants a chance to stay in the United States and eventually become citizens.
He has faced criticism from his rivals who oppose the measure, in particular Mitt Romney and Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who contends the bill would grant amnesty to illegal aliens.
Also participating in the debate were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), former Govs. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Jim Gilmore of Virginia and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, and Reps. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) of California and Ron Paul (news, bio, voting record) of Texas.
On Tuesday, Tancredo stood outside Republican Sen. Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record)'s New Hampshire office and said he would start a petition drive and volunteer network to help voters campaign against senators who support the White House-backed immigration plan.
"For a Republican to be talking about other Republicans, trying to take them on and defeat them in primaries, that's a somewhat injudicious thing for me to do. But this is an issue that surpasses all the niceties that go along with political camaraderie that you develop," Tancredo said.
Gregg has said he won't decide how to vote until he's seen all the details of the bill. He dismissed people who use "a jingoistic and demagogic approach of opposition to immigrants as a way to raise their own political visibility."
Romney has complained that a so-called Z visa included in the immigration legislation would allow the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country to remain indefinitely, letting them jump ahead of other foreigners seeking to emigrate legally. He has proposed making the visas temporary, forcing recipients to seek permanent immigrant status or leave the country.
Nonetheless, one of his top economic advisers, N. Gregory Mankiw, former chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, signed an op-ed piece in Tuesday's Dallas Morning News supporting the bill.
"This is the most far-reaching and thoughtful reform of our immigration system in four decades and one that will significantly enhance American competitiveness," wrote Mankiw and his co-signers, including Jack Kemp, the 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee. "The benefits of the bill far outweigh its shortcomings. We believe it offers the only realistic way forward, and urge conservatives — and all Americans — to embrace the promise it holds out."
The debate was sponsored by CNN, WMUR-TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader. The host was Saint Anselm College, which also hosted a Democratic debate on Sunday.
An eleventh potential GOP candidate, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, did not participate in the debate, but the Fox News Channel invited him for a solo interview afterward. |
