Nevada GOP Trying to Lose Elections

Posted by admin on May 23, 2006 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Um, I did a litte re-write of this LVRJ story originally found at the Beacon’s place:

Some key Republicans embraced the Republican Party’s new platform plank passed over the weekend that would deny citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants.

Legal scholars called the proposal unconstitutional, and Hispanic advocates termed it a violation of human rights. The actual amendment reads: “We do not support citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal aliens, illegal residents or foreign visitors.”

An un-named spokesman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, condemned it: “Jim Gibbons opposes that part of the party’s state platform, mostly because he still has his heart set on winning the gubernatorial election.”

Proponents of the plan to block citizenship for children born here to illegal immigrants say it would make it easier for them to lose elections this year and let the Democrats take the fall for the tough times ahead thanks to the Bush Administration’s tarnished policies. “Thanks to the current administration’s failed policies on Iraq and immigration, and our unquestioning support of those policies, we just think the next few years will be so bad, that it will be easier to sit the next few years out and blame the Democrats when the time comes.

The disagreement further exposed the wide rift in the state Republican Party between hard-liners who want to crack down on immigration but don’t care about actually winning elections, and those that want to win elections and are willing to do whatever it takes. Another un-name source said: “Look, we’re not stupid. We know this part of our platform alienates Nevada Hispanics. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We want to lose. And the fact that its unconstitutional? That’s even better because it guaratees that the plank will never ultimately survive.”