Hey, GOP: US Is Outraged Over Illegals

Moderates like McCain and Huckabee risk defeat, Time says

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 3, 2007 4:40 PM CST

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Hey, GOP: US Is Outraged Over Illegals — Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to the media after meeting with members of the Alabama Veterans of Foreign Wars, Friday June 15, 2007, in Birmingham, Ala. McCain said Friday there is reason to hope that an immigration reform bill will pass, now that it has been... (Associated Press)

GOP hopefuls risk defeat if they underestimate US rage over illegals, Time's Joe Klein writes. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have successfully stoked public anger; Romney, who reportedly hired undocumented workers to tend his lawn, blasts illegals in his latest campaign ads. But Mike Huckabee takes a middle ground and may be hurt “for refusing to demagogue” the topic, Klein writes.

John McCain is moderate too, stressing that legal immigrants are "our greatest strength"—a comment he made to a gadfly who said open borders will "destroy this country" and may spark "civil war." Why such venom? Hillary Clinton says it's all about the benjamins: In the '90s, “the economy was working, and average Americans didn't have to go around looking for someone to blame." (More illegal immigration stories.)

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