Thread: On Immigration, Perry Should Take the Offensive

On Immigration, Perry Should Take the Offensive
September 22, 2011 - 12:00 am - by Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry obviously needs some coaching on how to talk about illegal immigration — especially during the remaining Republican presidential debates.

Oh, Perry is doing fine. But he can do better if he stops being so polite and fires back at his opponents with both barrels. He needs to get off the defensive, and get on the offensive.

It’s not like he can avoid the topic. You can bet that it will keep coming up. In fact, it’s likely to make an appearance in the debate in Orlando, FL, which is sponsored by Fox News, Google, and the Florida Republican Party.

There are three reasons why this topic won’t go away for Republicans: GOP voters care about it; Perry’s Republican opponents see it as the Achilles’ heel for the GOP frontrunner; and the liberal media enjoys the sight of Republicans fighting with one another, especially over an issue that makes many of them seem dishonest, extreme, and out of touch.

For now, Republicans are livid over how Perry answered questions in the most recent CNN/Tea Party debate.

They hate that he didn’t apologize, grovel, and beg forgiveness for signing, in 2001, a fairness bill that allows illegal immigrants who attend state colleges and universities in the Lone Star State, and who are in the process of getting citizenship, to pay in-state tuition like any other state resident.

They hate that Perry, rather than give into bullying from the right wing, defends the concept to this day as having worked for Texas and benefited its economy by creating productive residents and not simply creating an underclass of uneducated individuals who can’t contribute to the economy.

But what they really hate are the words that Perry chose to defend what he did.

“The bottom line,â€

When I went to the article, the first thing I noticed was the author.

September 22, 2011 - 12:00 am - by Ruben Navarrette Jr

I hope Perry does take the advice of the racist mouthpiece of the invasion named Ruben Navarrette Jr!

Ruben Navarrette Jr's advice would bring even more exposure of Perry's support for the invasion in front of GOP primary voters that will reject his liberalism on the issue.

W