http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/...1_427_2_06.txt

Busby characterizes gaff as "misstatement"

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate for the 50th Congressional District, struggled over the weekend against 11th-hour attacks by local Republicans focusing on a "misstatement" she made to a group of Latinos on Thursday.

"I want to make it very clear that anyone here illegally does not have the right to be here, does not have the right to vote, does not have any right to be a part of the electoral process, and illegal people shouldn't be working on a campaign," Busby said Sunday.

Busby is locked in a dead-heat with Republican Brian Bilbray, former mayor of Imperial Beach, a former congressman and a Washington lobbyist, to finish the term of disgraced congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Cunningham pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit bribery, tax evasion, mail fraud and tax fraud for accepting more than $2 million in bribes.

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Busby said she "misspoke" during a meeting of about 100 Latino men, women and children Thursday organized by Escondido community activist Daniel Perez at the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido.

Invited to talk about her position on immigration, Busby answered a question from a Spanish-speaking man who said he didn't have "papers" but wanted to know "how he could help" with her campaign, according to a 40-minute audiotape of the meeting obtained by "The Minutemen," an anti-illegal immigration group, and forwarded to news outlets Friday.

"Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely, you can all help," Busby replied, according to the tape. "You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to be a registered voter to help."

Busby said she knew immediately that she had misspoken, noting that she amended her statement instantly with the last clause "you don't need to be a registered voter to help."

Busby said Sunday that her response was directed to the teenagers in the room to encourage them to get involved in the electoral process.

Bilbray said Sunday that Busby knew what she was doing.

"She went into that room to recruit people to work for her campaign," Bilbray said. "Nobody tricked her into saying that."

Busby characterized the Republican's attempts to use the gaff to create controversy as "just one more desperate attempt to attack me one more time before Tuesday."

Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at 760-901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.


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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
hahahah wrote on June 04, 2006 9:35 PM:""You can all help. You don't need papers to vote and you don't need to be a registered voter to help." and now she state (after talking to her consultants) "I want to make it very clear that anyone here illegally does not have the right to be here, does not have the right to vote, does not have any right to be a part of the electoral process, and illegal people shouldn't be working on a campaign," Come on.... we arnt that gullible.... are we?"

Ray wrote on June 05, 2006 12:29 AM:"That was no slip but her real agenda."

Carolyn wrote on June 05, 2006 5:12 AM:"I am a Member of SDMM, and have attended more than one ILLEGAL DAY LABOR SITE. What is so difficult in printing truth. These people ARE in our country illegally, they are on our streets, in our schools, and hospitals. They are disease ridden and they are a health threat living in the canyons with no running water and no toilet facilities. What in God's name is wrong with the press that you can't get it right. The activits are vicious, rude and in your face. I know what has been said to me and I can name the names. The border must be closed and that's that. Send them back - BP could have gotten quite a few at Busby's little meeting with Morones, et al! That was sure a slip-up. Come on 0 get your facts straight - these folks standing on the Encinitas and Vista street corners and in the shopping plazas aren't rocket scientists - and they ain't necessary here to DO THE WORK AMERICANS WON'T. We are over run and the supporters of amnesty are traitors to their own country. The press is not lagging far behind."

No Amnesty wrote on June 05, 2006 5:31 AM:"This new statement from Bubsy makes it even worse. If she doesn't believe that illegals should be involved in the electoral process, why did she say what she did. She can try to characterize this as an "attack" all she wants, but there is no getting around her own words. She is upset because she go caught. End of the game Francine."

Skip wrote on June 05, 2006 7:38 AM:"I am glad the NCT ran finally ran this story. Too bad the audio clip is not here as well. I talked to some people that were in attendance in that meeting in Escondido, and they said at best there were just 2 teenagers in a large group of people."

I wonder... wrote on June 05, 2006 7:52 AM:"I wonder if this person was a plant from the Minutemen. They are the ones who took a tape recorder and then alerted the GOP and the press. And isn't it illegal in CA to tape record someone without their knowledge? The very fact that Bilbray and the other Republican are aligning with such racist, basic thugs has made me decide to vote Busby. "

to hahahah wrote on June 05, 2006 7:59 AM:"This is the biggest non-story in the history of non-stories. By the way hahahah, your quote is not the same as the one in the article. You added "and" between the two phrases, TOTALLY changing the meaning. Notice in the article (and elsewhere I've seen) there is no "and" just a comma. Clearly she had a little Bush-style slip-up in the first part, immediately corrected herself with what she meant to say which is, "You don't need to be a registered voter to help." What, exactly, is wrong with that? Maybe you didn't realize this, but there is such a thing as people who are here legally, but not citizens. If you are a permanent legal resident, on a green card, etc, then you are here legally, but not a citizen. So you can't be a registered voter. But I can't see anything wrong with them helping out on a campaign. Honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about."

spanish anyone? wrote on June 05, 2006 8:33 AM:"I heard that "papers to vote" is the literal translation of how you would indicate registered to vote in Spanish. I don't know if Busby knows much Spanish, but it is possible that she started out that way "you don't need papers to vote to help with the campaign" in other words, "you don't need to be a registered voter to help with the campaign." But then she corrected herself, realizing in English it can be misunderstood (as we now see). Either way, if anybody thinks Busby was honestly trying to get illegal votes, you're nuts. I know Busby personally, she is a completely warm, caring and above all honest person."

PATRIOT wrote on June 05, 2006 8:46 AM:"FRANCINE WENT TO A SECRET MEETING. WHY NO ENGLISH SPEAKING MEDIA? SHE WAS PANDERING. IF YOU LISTEN TO THE TAPE THERE IS NO MISREPRESENTATION. SHE'S JUST BACK PEDDLING, SHE WAS CAUGHT. I'M A DEMOCRAT BEFORE YOU TRY AND SAY I'M A REPUBLICAN. SHE'S NOT TOUGH ENOUGH ON IMMIGRATION. SHE SAID ONE THING AND THEN MET IN A SECRET MEETINGS. SHE DOESN'T SUPPORT ENGLISH AS OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE. SHE WILL JUST TURN INTO ANOTHER LET ME GIVE YOU MY COUNTRY LIBERAL AND FORGET YOU AMERICAN CITIZENS. AND YES YOU HEARD IT..I AM A DEMOCRAT, TOUGH ON IMMIGRATION!!!"

Tired of Illegals wrote on June 05, 2006 8:47 AM:"If the spanish speaking guy in the audience "had no papers," why was he not arrested and kicked back over the fence?? Hahahah - the fuss is about illegal disease laden moneysuckers who are ruining my quality of life - that's the fuss, dingbat! Maybe you like living in squalor, broke, and having to watch your kid go to a public school where he refuses his "free lunch," because he actually has some self respect, unlike the loser kids who are trained to believe they are entitled to handouts because they're selfish parents squirt out kids until their organs fail!"

John wrote on June 05, 2006 9:00 AM:"Ah the smell of hypocrisy. Not that Bush has any credibility left among the anti-immigrant crowd, but let me ask you all this... How many times in the last 6 years have you loyal Republicans made excuses for the President's "misstatements?" Bush has dropped the bar so low on the issue of "mess-speakin'" that it has dropped through the floor and is somewhere buried in the basement. Before all you a high and mighty aficionados of public speaking start slinging mud at Ms Busby over this insignificant slip, you should grab a shovel and start digging the president out of his oratory hole. And since you don't like flip-floppers, why did Bilbray say on Friday to Channel 8 News that he accepted Francine's explanation - yet now he's saying she knew what she was doing?"

hahahah wrote on June 05, 2006 9:34 AM:"Nice try in trying to cover up for your candidate.... its all clear here... when she doesnt know shes on the record she says one thing, and when she knows its on the record she says what the people want to here. And by the way, i dunno know about campaigning, but it IS illegal for foreign nationals (meaning none citezens, legal or not) to contribute to your campaign. Just because i added an and doesnt change the whole statement... like you said people can look up there and see the quote... i wasnt talking about the meaning of the quote anyway.... i was talking about how she flip-flops so easily and thinks we are idiots!"