MSNBC
By Steve Benen
August 27, 2015
The
obvious problem for Republicans watching Donald Trump with dismay is
that the New York developer is dominating in practically every poll. The
less obvious problem
is his influence over the Republican conversation – and what happens
when Trump’s rivals try to keep up.
The
GOP frontrunner, for example, took a fairly bold line on birthright
citizenship: just because someone is born on American soil, Trump
argued, doesn’t make them an
American citizen, 14th Amendment be damned. A new litmus test was born –
soon, every Republican was pressed on the same issue.
Some
struggled more than others. Just ask Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R),
who offered three very different answers over the course of six days.
Also note what happened when Fox News’ Megyn Kelly asked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to weigh in this week. Politico reported:
“What
would President Cruz do? Do American citizen children of two illegal
immigrants, who are born here, the children, get deported under a
President Cruz?” Kelly asked.
Donald Trump, she said, “has answered that question explicitly.”
“Megyn,
I get that that’s the question you want to ask,” Cruz said. “That’s
also the question every mainstream media liberal journalist wants to
ask.”
After some dodges, the host asked, “Why is it so hard? Why don’t you just say yes or no?”
Rather
than answering, the far-right senator retreated to the usual rhetoric:
officials “can have a conversation” about this after “we’ve secured the
border.”
This isn’t nearly as good an answer as Cruz thinks it is.
As
the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent noted yesterday, “Kelly is
absolutely right to note, in the context of the birthright citizenship debate, that Trump has answered
questions ‘explicitly,’ while Cruz won’t. This illustrates, once again,
that Trump’s immigration plan, if you can call it that, has had the
effect of making GOP evasions on the overall immigration issue much
harder to sustain.
I
agree, though I’d add just one thing. Last week, Cruz appeared on
Michael Medved’s conservative talk-radio show and the Republican
candidate told the host, “We should
end granting automatic birthright citizenship to the children of those
who are here illegally.” Cruz even elaborated on his approach, talking
about pursuing a constitutional amendment.
Ordinarily,
when politicians vacillate, they move in a predictable direction: they
dodge questions, avoid specific answers, and then eventually take a
controversial position.
Cruz, like Walker a few days ago, is doing the exact opposite – both
Republican candidates announced their opposition to birthright citizenship and then decided to retreat to ambiguity on the issue.
It’s
actually the worst of both worlds. Cruz already adopted a radical
posture, but when pressed on Fox News, he backed off, refusing to answer
a question that Trump wasn’t
afraid of, despite being wrong.
Bill Clinton’s famous formulation about “strong and wrong” topping “weak and right” comes to mind.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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