August 31, 2004

The Topic that can't be mentioned

TNR has the scoop on Tom Tancredo's failed attempt to get something about immigration into the GOP platform:

You would think that as a member of Congress, Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo would enjoy special privileges at this convention. And, for the most part, you'd be right: Tancredo has invitations to lots of parties; he has access to the convention floor. But, in one very important respect, Tancredo is just like the rest of us: He's totally in the dark as to who served on the Republican platform committee. And there's no privilege Tancredo would like more than that one...

Not surprisingly, Tancredo had hoped that this year's Republican platform would include some of his immigration reform proposals. And when the platform committee met last week to craft the document--to be ratified by delegates at the convention--Tancredo put forth three immigration-related amendments: one calling on states to refuse to grant drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants; the second opposing amnesty for illegal aliens already in the United States; and the third opposing an agreement with Mexico granting Mexicans in the United States, including those here illegally, access to the U.S. Social Security system. Just as quickly as Tancredo proposed them, the platform committee voted down all three amendments.

This essentially spelled the end to Tancredo's hopes of having a strong immigration reform plank in the GOP platform, but he did have one last hope: a floor fight at the convention...

...This latter route seemed doable to Tancredo, save for one problem: The congressman couldn't find out who, exactly, was on the platform committee. Running the platform process with all the discipline and secrecy that's come to be expected from the Bush White House, the RNC, citing security concerns, refused to divulge the identities of the handpicked delegates who served on the platform committee--even, in some cases, to other members of the platform committee...

Posted to Immigration2004 at August 31, 2004 05:39 PM

Comments

How's that for a glaring contradiction-in-terms; it is just as if they had said: 'in the name of openness as a value to which we would sacrifice innocent victims in large numbers, let there be no openness to patriots who seek to cause us to be less open to evils from outside'.

Posted by: John S Bolton at August 31, 2004 05:50 PM