Thread: Bachmann & Christie immigration Prez ratings

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Sunday 20FEB2011 12:30 a.m. EST

Bachmann & Christie immigration Prez ratings


CHRISTIE & BACHMANN ARE THE TWO POLITICIANS YOU MOST WANTED TO SEE RATED & GRADED ON OUR PREZ GRID ON IMMIGRATION STANCES

ONE IS A WASH-OUT

THE OTHER EKES OUT A B-MINUS

After we rated and graded the immigration positions of the 9 front-runners for their Party's presidential nomination in 2012, most of you were dissatisfied with a group that ranged from F-minus to C+.

For the last two weeks, you have been voting for which of 10 other potential candidates you would most like to see us rate.

Your choices were:

No. 1 -- 20.2% of you voted to rate Gov. Christie of New Jersey
No. 2 -- 17.8% of you voted to rate U.S. Rep. Bachmann of Minnesota

(The others were Gov. Jindal (13.0%), Ambassador Bolton (11.8%), Gov. Perry (11.3%), Sen. Santorum (8.4%), Businessman Cain (7.2%), Gov. Daniels (5.2%), Gov. Huntsman (3.2%) and Gov. Pataki (2.0%).)

Our research found that your two top choices deserve these ratings.

Bachmann and Christie Presidential Grid

If you want to join a conversation about these ratings, do so underneath my blog at: www.numbersusa.com/content/node/11924

You now can see what happens once we apply our very vigorous criteria to these two favorites in the same way we have the front-runners.

Our criteria are based on everything each politician has done on immigration and also what they have pledged should be done.

Gov. Christie shows up quite poorly because he has pretty much ignored immigration issues. That shouldn't be too surprising, given that all of his experience has been in state politics and that he has not shown any interest in running for President this time around.

But if you Christie supporters want the rest of us to take him seriously as a potential candidate, you are going to have to get him to treat immigration as an issue important enough to speak about.

Unfortunately, on the two immigration issues where Gov. Christie HAS spoken, it didn't come out well.

In summary on amnesty:

"Gov. Christie has made a number of statements that indicate he favors giving a lot of illegal aliens some kind of restricted legalization while also talking about the need to repatriate many of them. His minimizing of the seriousness of breaking immigration laws pushes him over line into a Bad rating."

You can see all our background info on each candidate on each of 12 immigration issues by clicking on their photo on the Presidential Grid. https://www.numbersusa.com/hub?action=r ... 4574&lid=9

Gov. Christie also doesn't show up well on an issue that he could really do something about as a governor -- local immigration enforcement:

"Christie has done nothing as governor to help support immigration enforcement and has publicly expressed reservations about states doing so, pushing him into a Bad rating."

At the moment if Christie is compared with the 9 front-runners, he would be the 2nd worst -- between Pres. Obama and Mississippi Gov. Barber.

Rep. Bachmann compares much more favorably. If she were a front-runner, she would edge out her fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty for the No. 1 best slot.

Pawlenty remains the best on immigration of the 9 front-runners. But he still only earns a C+ grade. The reason is similar to why Bachmann doesn't do much better: Both have too many immigration issues on which they haven't taken a stand. But neither has said or done anything to rate them a "Bad" on any issue.

Because of NumbersUSA members' insistence, we have started a section on our 2012 Prez Grid that is at the bottom of the page and rates "Other Potential Candidates."

These are politicians -- like Christie and Bachmann -- who don't meet the overall criteria for "major presidential hopeful" to appear at the top of the page. But they are people of considerable public interest in relation to the national race.

To qualify for the top Hopefuls' grid, a politician has to show interest in potentially running for President, the news media have to show some interest in them, and they have to have some standing in preference polls. We weigh all three in choosing the 9 politicians to put in the top Hopefuls' grid.

PLEASE CONTACT THE POLITICIANS & FOCUS THEM ON IMMIGRATION

This early in the presidential races, you can have some real influence in moving our immigration issues to the front of an agenda.

Please call any of the Hopefuls whom you think you might be willing to support for President.

You can find phone numbers, websites and email addresses by clicking on their photo on the Grid. https://www.numbersusa.com/hub?action=r ... 4574&lid=9

Unless you put pressure on these politicians, most of them will do all they can to avoid taking a stand on many of our immigration issues.

THANKS,

Roy Beck, President NumbersUSA

Received by e-mail from NumbersUSA on Sat, Feb 19, 2011 11:18 pm

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