Lou Dobbs for president? One anti-illegal immigration group thinks he's the antidote to "McClintobama."

By Whitney Blair Wyckoff
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON—Lou Dobbs for President?

Americans for Legal Immigration, a group that favors (enforcement of existing immigration laws) a hard line against illegal immigration, has been pushing the candidacy of the cantankerous (Wycoff insults Dobbs by calling him Ill-tempered, quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked) CNN host for some time now. But it re-launched a Lou Dobbs campaign Web site this week, now that John McCain is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

In part, this can be seen as a protest message in a campaign where the three remaining candidates favor a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and a relatively moderate approach toward them (Changing America's existing immigration laws is not the moderate approach but a radical one disapproved of by a majority of Americans).

But William Gheen, president and spokesman of the group, known as ALIPAC, said the campaign is no stunt.

So far, 2,034 people have pledged $509,825 if Dobbs decides to run, he said. Gheen hopes that the site will generate enough interest to convince Dobbs to enter the 2008 presidential race.

“We want to show Lou that there’s a pre-established base out there that he can use to quickly re-energize the campaign,â€