transcript (single page)
Mitt Romney on the American dream:
But there’s something bigger in conservatism that I don’t think we’ve spoken about, and that is that America is a land of opportunity, and our future is going to be far brighter than our past, not just as we overcome these challenges, but as we take advantage of the new opportunity of the 21st century.
So to be conservative is to believe in inevitable progress and growing prosperity? I think not. But it may be what it is to be Mormon.
and
Now, let me tell you what I think about a broader issue. We’ve talked tonight about all of the issues as they relate to the problems that we have, and I understand that. But we have extraordinary opportunities. What the Republican party has to stand for is more than solving problems. In the 19th century, the new frontier for us was the American West. In the 20th century, it was Europe — selling products to Europe and North America. Now Asia has come out of poverty. A billion people —
MR. BLITZER: Thank you.
MR. ROMNEY: — who were steeped in poverty are coming out of poverty. They’re consumers. We can sell products to them, medicines, technology —
MR. BLITZER: Thank you, Governor.
MR. ROMNEY: — energy. We are a party of the future, and we have to stop worrying about the problems and thinking we can’t deal with those. We have to focus on the future and our opportunity to make America a great place for our kids and grandkids. Thank you.
Mitt Romney is a businessman, and it is said that Mormons have a influence upon industry in disproportion to their numbers. (The secret to Mormon business success?)Is there a link between his answer and his religion? Or is he merely parading some ideology of the past? So the new frontier is the trade that we can do with Asia? But we are already doing trade with Asia--and we're importing more than we're exporting--how are we going to overcome the trade deficits that already exist? There's no awareness of the moral and spiritual malaise affecting the country; not only is is the perennial problem for politics, but in the United States it has lead to a very precarious situation with respect to the survival of local communities. A house of cards that will fall if anything hits the table.
And one more proof of the real principles of Giuliani and McCain:
MS. VAUGHN: What is your question tonight?
Q With regards to illegal and legal immigration, in your opinion, what does it mean to be an American? What are the tangible and intangible attributes of an American?
MS. VAUGHN: Congressman Tancredo.
REP. TANCREDO: It means, number one, cut from the past. If you come here as an immigrant, great. Welcome. If you come here legally, welcome. It means you cut your ties with the past, familial — especially political ties with the country from which you came.
But let’s be serious about this, you guys. We talk about all the immigration reform we want, and what it’s got to get down to is this: Are we ready for a timeout? Are we actually ready to say, “Enough is enough”? We have to stop all legal immigration except for the — for people coming into this country as family members, immediate family members, and/or refugees. Are we willing to actually say that and say enough — is it — we have got to actually begin the process of assimilating people who have come in this great wave of immigration. The process of assimilation is not going on.
And how long? How long will it take us for that — for us to catch up with the millions of people who have come here, both legally and illegally, and assimilate them? I’ll tell you this. It’ll take this long: until we no longer have to press 1 for English and 2 for any other language. (Applause.)
MR. BLITZER: I promised, Governor Huckabee, you’d have a chance to weigh in on this immigration issue. Do you agree with Congressman Tancredo that the U.S. should effectively end most legal immigration into the country?
MR. HUCKABEE: No, I disagree with that. I think that there are a number of people that we should welcome into this country. And it’s — certainly engineers and doctors and scientists that we may need legally coming here.
What we need to do is to have a border that is sealed and the same kind of process that we have to go through if we go into a stadium. We go in one at a time and we have a ticket. That’s the only thing I think Americans really are asking us for is a sane, sensible system that’s based on the idea that if you come here, that you come here through the same process that we would be expected to go through if we went to another country, which is not happening today.
MR. BLITZER: Mayor Giuliani, are you comfortable with what Congressman Tancredo says about immigration to this country?
MR. GIULIANI: No, I’m very uncomfortable with it. I mean, the reality is, it’s one thing to be debating illegal immigration. It’s a very complex subject. I think we’ve had a very good debate about it. And I think the bill needs to be fixed in the way that I’ve indicated. But we shouldn’t be having a debate about legal immigration.
Abraham Lincoln defined what an American is better than I’m going to be able to do it or Congressman Tancredo or anyone on the stage. Abraham Lincoln, who fought the know-nothing movement, said being an American is not whether you came over on the Mayflower or you came here yesterday. How much do you believe in freedom? How much do you believe in freedom of religion? How much do you believe in freedom for women? How much do you believe in the right to vote? How much do you believe in the rule of law? The person who believes in that the most is the best American, and the person who doesn’t isn’t an American.
MR. BLITZER: Thank you.
MR. GIULIANI: That’s Abraham Lincoln’s words. We should always be open to legal immigration. It reforms us. It makes us better. It brings us people who want to make a better life for themselves —
MR. BLITZER: Thank you.
MR. GIULIANI: — and their families. If we lose that, we lose the genius that has made America what it is.
MR. BLITZER: I’m going to go back to Jennifer in a second. (Applause.) But I want Senator McCain to respond as well. When you hear what Congressman Tancredo says, what goes through your mind?
SEN. MCCAIN: It’s beyond my realm of thinking. Look, America is the land of opportunity. The question was just asked, “What is it to be an American?” It’s to share a common goal that all of us — a principle — are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.
That means we go as far as our ambition will take us. That means we have a better life for ourselves and our children. And the lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door is still the ideal and the dream. Of course it has to be legal. Of course it has to be regulated. And 18 months, by the way, will go by while we fix the border before we do anything else on this issue.
MR. BLITZER: Thank you.
SEN. MCCAIN: But America is still the land of opportunity and it is a beacon of hope and liberty, and as Ronald Reagan said, a shining city on a hill. And we’re not going to erect barriers and fences.
What Tancredo says about the need for assimilation makes sense, but it may be too late in certain states that are the most affected by legal and illegal immigration; simply because of sheer numbers, how will states like California, Arizona, or Texas be able to bring about assimilation when Anglos are losing their numerical majority (especially if we look at particular regions of those states, rather than the state as a whole)? How could it be justified? Unfortunately, Tancredo will probably be criticized by almost everyone else for suggesting a temporary stop to legal immigration. Those other candidates who mindlessly support endless imigration into this country are very far removed from understanding what is needed to preserve local communities and to make sure they grow at a reasonable (sustainable) pace.
From McCain and Giuliani we get talk of a "proposition nation." Nothing about the "Western" tradition, rooted in Christianity, and transmitted particularly through Anglo-Saxon and Celtic culture, mixed slightly with other European cultures. Zip. I don't think this ideology is new to the Republican party--it is something that the oligarchs adhere to, for their own advantage. But Giuliani and McCain are as bad as the multiculturalists among the Democrats.
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