The Hill
By Peter Schroeder
May 17, 2015
Republican
contenders for the White House are under pressure to toe the party line
on a number of issues as they battle for the nomination.
Primary
voters will demand to know where the presidential hopefuls stand on a
slew of hot-button issues, including immigration, taxes and climate
change.
Several
of the candidates have already stumbled with their answers,
highlighting the intense scrutiny they will be under in the critical
early voting states of Iowa and
New Hampshire.
Here are some of the biggest political landmines ahead for the Republican field.
IMMIGRATION
Immigration is one of the thorniest issues for the Republican Party.
In
the GOP primary, the candidates are fighting for the support of mostly
conservative voters, who are generally opposed to anything they view as
granting “amnesty” to
undocumented people.
But
the eventual Republican nominee will need to make gains with Hispanic
voters in the general election to win the White House, but that segment
of the electorate has
shifted decisively toward Democrats in recent years.
Sen.
Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who helped write the Senate’s 2013 immigration
reform bill, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have cast themselves as
candidates who can appeal
to Hispanics and win the general election.
But to become their party’s nominee, both will have to overcome distrust on immigration from the party’s base.
Rubio
has backed away from the reform legislation he helped write, telling a
conservative crowd in February that border security must come first.
Other
Republican candidates, such as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, have come out against a pathway to
citizenship for undocumented
immigrants.
Bush
has mostly stuck to his guns on granting illegal immigrants a path to
citizenship, while emphasizing to conservatives their common ground on
border security and fighting
Obama’s executive actions.
Other candidates in the 2016 race, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are likely to hammer Rubio and Bush as backing “amnesty.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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