Former Speaker of the House and Representative for Georgia, Newt Gingrich, had some good news last Tuesday when a Quinnipiac national poll showed him at 26 percent; four points higher than second place Mitt Romney. However, the 68-year-old might just have quickly lost hold of his good numbers after his showing at the Republican debate that Tuesday evening. Oh brother…
The moral and pragmatic credibility of his stance on immigration is one that has attracted much attention. On Tuesday he said the following.
However, for many in the GOP grassroots immigration, and illegal immigrants in particular, is a hotbed issue. Gingrich needs to do well in Iowa if he wants to be a serious contender and Republican Iowans are about as conservative as they come with the vast majority classifying themselves as ‘very conservative’ according to pollsters. Gingrich’s performance in the Iowa caucuses will go someway to showing if he’s hit the right note with the grassroots and also if the grassroots’ feeling on the immigration issue are receptive to more moderate policy ideas.
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| Gingrich illustrates his point with mandatory hand actions for emphasis! Photo: IowaPolitics.com (Flickr) |
The moral and pragmatic credibility of his stance on immigration is one that has attracted much attention. On Tuesday he said the following.
"I don’t see how the … party that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter-century … and I'm prepared to take the heat for saying, let's be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their families."This newslog will be honest. It’s a ruddy good point. The kind of immigrants Newt is talking about are people well embedded in American society and it seems a colossal waste of money to track them down and kick them out. Surely that money can be better spent on improving current border security. Just sayin’…
However, for many in the GOP grassroots immigration, and illegal immigrants in particular, is a hotbed issue. Gingrich needs to do well in Iowa if he wants to be a serious contender and Republican Iowans are about as conservative as they come with the vast majority classifying themselves as ‘very conservative’ according to pollsters. Gingrich’s performance in the Iowa caucuses will go someway to showing if he’s hit the right note with the grassroots and also if the grassroots’ feeling on the immigration issue are receptive to more moderate policy ideas.
