Huckabee Being Indecisive On Illegal Immigration

New video of Huckabee being quite indecisive on a subject which I believe will doom him for the nomination.  He was asked if children of illegal aliens should become eligible for federal student aid programs:

“I’m not sure that I would support that,” Huckabee told ABC News,
“it was a different program in Arkansas.”

He backed in-state tuition for those same children when he was governor, why would we believe he would not support it now?

Compare that to Fred Thompson’s clear and decisive plan to tackle illegal immigration:

Enforce Existing Federal Laws. Enforce the laws Congress has
already enacted to prevent illegal aliens from unlawfully benefiting
from their presence in the country:

1. End
   Sanctuary Cities by cutting off discretionary federal grant funds as
   appropriate to any community that, by law, ordinance, executive order,
   or other formal policy directs its public officials not to comply with
   the provisions of 8 USC 1373 and 8 USC 1644, which prohibit any state
   or local government from restricting in any way communications with the
   Department of Homeland Security “regarding the immigration status,
   lawful or unlawful, of an alien in the United States.”
2. Deny
   discretionary Federal education grants as appropriate to public
   universities that violate federal law by offering in-state tuition
   rates to illegal aliens without also offering identical
   benefits to United States citizens, regardless of whether or not they
   live in the state, as required by 8 USC 1623.
3. Deny
   discretionary Federal grants as appropriate to states and local
   governments that violate federal law by offering public benefits to
   illegal aliens, as prohibited by 8 USC 1621(a).

And there is no comparison.

UPDATE

Not related to illegal immigration but an interesting twist:

According to The Politico, New York Post columnist and FOX News contributor Dick Morris has been secretly advising former client Mike Huckabee on his Presidential campaign. Morris claims he is acting in an entirely voluntary capacity by simply offering free advice. Keep in mind that nationally syndicated columnist George Will was pilloried by the media when it became public that he had secretly and voluntarily helped Ronald Reagan prepare for his Presidential debates in 1980. A prominent national GOP insider tells Politics1 that he believes Morris — despite his claims to the contrary — is paid for his services through Huckabee media consultant Dick Dresner. According to the source, Morris purportedly gets piece of all Huckabee campaign polling revenues, media commissions and consulting fees through money paid to Dresner’s firm. Explaining the relationship, Huckabee told one GOP pollster: “I feel like I want to take a shower after I meet with him, but Morris is a smart guy and I need him.” This is, of course, part of Morris’ revenge strategy against the Clintons. The toe-sucking political consultant has never gotten over being fired by President Clinton in 1996 and Morris wants to prove he can put anyone from Arkansas in the White House. Morris was previously Huckabee’s consultant during his statewide runs in Arkansas. If these allegations of funneled payments are true, it raises questions as to whether the NY Post will allow a columnist to take fees from those they write about … and if FOX News will allow their analyst to be taking money funnelled from a Presidential campaign. Most importantly, how will Evangelical voters react to having the escort-using former Bill Clinton strategist secretly directing the Huckabee campaign.

Morris has been touting Huckabee in his article for awhile now:

Morris lately has been lavishing praise in newspaper columns and television appearances on Huckabee, whose polished debate performances and recent gains in the polls in Iowa have given him a chance to penetrate the top tier among the GOP candidates.

“Mike Huckabee is on a roll,” Morris began one of his columns in The Hill newspaper last month. He also offers regular political analysis for Fox News and the New York Post.

Morris’ public touts of Huckabee sometimes come with disclosures of his past working relationship with the candidate, but they do not mention that the two men still talk regularly — an omission that could raise eyebrows among journalistic ethicists.

As Huckabee’s prospects become more serious, speculation about Morris’ role has blossomed in the small circle — sometimes incestuous, sometimes bitterly competitive — of national political operatives. Some accounts place Morris as an important figure among Huckabee’s kitchen cabinet of outside advisers.

And now maybe we understand Huckabee’s meteoric rise in the polls over the last few weeks.  As for myself, I could never support him in the primary.  His stance on illegal immigration is one big sticking point.

Curt

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