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Immigration dominates agenda for potential California voters
By Christina Bellantoni
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published September 1, 2006

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CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- When Trisha Bowler calls California voters on behalf of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, most don't want to talk about his re-election campaign. Instead, they tell her they are worried about immigration policy.

The governor has the majority of the public's support on many issues, from the environment to taxes, but there is no hotter topic this election year than the influx of illegal aliens crossing the border.

"Nine out of 10 people tell me their top concern is immigration," said Mrs. Bowler, of Diamond Bar in Southern California. "That's the No. 1 issue."

Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has bucked the state's core conservatives by calling for a comprehensive immigration plan similar to what the U.S. Senate passed this spring, and by labeling the House Republican border hearings as a "sham."

"The federal government must strengthen our borders and deal with those here illegally in a reasonable way," the governor told the state's Republican Convention in Los Angeles on Aug. 20.

When President Bush called for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent to the border, Mr. Schwarzenegger refused, calling the plan a temporary fix that would deplete state forces. But two weeks later, the governor sent 1,000 California guardsmen to aid the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, an Austrian immigrant, is frustrated with Congress because lawmakers went on a monthlong recess without completing work on the pending immigration bill.

House Republicans who want to first pass a tough border-security measure have conducted dozens of field hearings across the country over the summer to highlight what they say are weaknesses in the Senate bill.

"He thought the hearings that were staged around the country were a sham," said Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt. The governor is "fed up with talk and inaction out of Washington," Mr. Schmidt said.

But for some conservative Republicans, that frustration isn't enough.

"He doesn't have my vote," said Keith Hardine of Los Angeles. "It's an insult when you tell people just because you want their vote that this is what you care about, and then you govern differently. I don't fall for it."

Mr. Hardine -- a member of the Minutemen, a group of civilians who are patrolling the border on their own -- did not vote for Mr. Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall election that brought the movie star to his first political office. He said his protest vote for a Libertarian candidate this year would be worth the risk of bringing a Democrat to the governor's mansion.

"I'd rather live with my conscience," he said.

George McIntosh, 82, warned the governor and other politicians that immigration issues will sway many voters: "This is the 900-pound gorilla hiding in the closet for this next election."

Convention Republicans cheered wildly when Mr. Schwarzenegger told them that "being an American means learning English."

"I know because I did," he said, in the thick Austrian accent made famous in his blockbuster movies. "Not that it is perfect, but I did."

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a Democrat vying to unseat Mr. Schwarzenegger, accused the governor of using immigration to "inflame the passions of his right-wing base." He said he disagrees with putting troops on the border.

"It stretches our National Guard too thin," Mr. Angelides told reporters after the convention speech.

Some said putting Mr. Angelides in the governor's office would make the problem worse.

"Our country is experiencing an invasion," said Betty Gault, a resident of Cordoba in Southern California. "We're going to be supporting so many illegal aliens we are going to be broke."

But Ms. Gault, 78, a retired teacher, still plans to vote for the governor in November. "The alternative wants to do nothing," she said.

Richard Rodriguez, 63, a Navy veteran of Mexican descent, said he prefers Guard troops to the Minutemen. He blamed the federal government and said Mr. Schwarzenegger was put in a tough spot.

"We shouldn't have to use either group for border enforcement," said Mr. Rodriguez, who lives in Chula Vista just miles from the border. "We don't have enough people doing their job there."