Huntsman’s working hard to pick up that GOP nomination
As ThinkProgress has reported, former Republican Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman has strong progressive streak that he may prefer people forget as he considers pursuing the GOP presidential nomination. On immigration, for example, Huntsman has supported a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants and something akin to the DREAM act, breaking with the nativists who have come to dominate Republican immigration thinking after President Bush’s reform effort collapsed. When asked about immigration at a town hall event in New Hampshire on Friday, Huntsman said he “hates the thought†of a border fence because “it’s not consistent with†American ideals:
HUNTSMAN: I hate the thought of a fence on the border. I mean, for me, as an American, the thought of a fence, it to some extent repulses me, because it’s not consistent with our overall — the image that we projected from the very beginning to the rest of the world. But the situation is such that I don’t think we have a choice.
I’d say that most on the Right are not thrilled with having to have a border fence. It’d be wonderful if we didn’t have to Do Something to stop the massive flow of illegal aliens, many of whom are hardcore criminals, gang members, and Islamic jihadis. But, a GOP candidate would be best off not yammering about it, especially since he seems to have a “strong progressive streak.”
Yet, it is consistent with American ideals, the ones about rule of law and protecting our citizens from from foreign invasion, two things that, unlike abortion and separation of church and state, actually appear in the Constitution!
