It looks like Republican Speaker John Boehner's immigration inaction in 2013 is going to cost the Republican Party some House of Representative seats in 2014. His failed leadership and obstructionism in putting immigration reform for vote in 2013 will remain fresh in women voters' minds. Rep. Nancy Pelosi stated we have the bipartisan votes in support of fixing the broken immigration system, yet, Boehner is obstructing. He is in charge of the schedule at the House of Reps level because quite frankly the GOP owns the majority of the seats.
But what of Ohio Republican rep. Bill Johnson? It appears he is part of the Tom Tancredo anti-immigration club under the guise of "immigration caucus." In the below print screen you will see Rep. Johnson complain about the broken immigration system yet he will not take any leadership at the federal level and will not support what P.O.W. Veteran and Republican Senator John McCain supports! Immigration is a federal matter yet no leadership is found with Johnson even though Ohio voters made it clear they overwhelmingly support immigration reform. Rep. Bill Johnson needs to understand his ties to The Immigration Reform Caucus has been closely linked over the years with immigration restrictionist organizations like NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which Imagine 2050 has deemed a “white nationalist” organization that has “endeavored to eradicate immigration to the United States and to systematically limit civil liberties.”[10]
Does Rep. Johnson have any idea how Tom Tancredo hurt the Republican Party when he criticized both Republican President George W. Bush and Karl Rove? Does Rep. Johnson have any idea how women, independent and Hispanic voters treat Tom Tancredo like kryptonite?
"It all started with the Tancredo-Rove feud. In April 2002, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo received a phone call from Karl Rove. Tancredo had just authored an op-ed for the Washington Times that completely excoriated President George W. Bush’s immigration policy. At the end of a twenty-minute rant, Tancredo alleges that Rove ended the conservation with the old, ‘You will never darken the steps of the White House again’ threat.
Tancredo used the criticism to propel himself into the forefront of the anti-immigration movement. He has also manipulated his intense dislike of Karl Rove and President George W. Bush into a groundswell of support that comes from many sources. All of them claim to be conservative, and most of them claiming, falsely it appears, to be Republican. I have long suspected and feared that Tom Tancredo, a Republican, would manipulate this support into an Oval Office run, even though, for months he has staunchly said he was not planning to do so."
How will the Ohio GOP leadership explain to the voters how one of their own via Speaker Boeher could have solved a broken immigration system in 2013 but chose not to?
Looks like the Ohio GOP needs to look at a recent November 2013 memo provided by the Basswood Research regarding NATIONAL GENERAL ELECTION POLL ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES IN REPUBLICAN-HELD COMPETITIVE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS. NOTE: Republicans typically use Basswood Research so it tends to be conservative-leaning.
According to the research findings, inaction by GOP in swing districts will more than likely cost them their seats. Since its founding in 2001,Basswood Research has conducted survey research in every state and in hundreds of congressional districts and local communities. Its founder and principal, Jon Lerner, has been recognized by Roll Call
, National Journal, the Washington Post and others as one of the leading Republican pollsters in the nation. Basswood has helped elect more than two dozen U.S. Senators, Members of Congress, and Governors, including leading conservatives such as Senators Tom Coburn, Pat Toomey, and Tim Scott. It has served as pollster for leading conservative advocacy groups such as the Club for Growth. And it has conducted surveys for the national Republican Party committees at the RGA, the NRSC, and the NRCC.
