Senate Democrats have reached out to former CNN anchor and prominent illegal-immigration opponent Lou Dobbs in an effort to build broad bipartisan support for immigration reform.
Winning the support of Dobbs, who became a prominent critic of illegal immigration and proposals to grant amnesty to illegal workers, could provide a significant boost to reform efforts.
And even though the victory of Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R) in Massachusetts appears to have diminished the chances of passing far-reaching, controversial immigration reform, Democrats are not giving up.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is spearheading the Democrats' effort to put together a comprehensive reform bill, met with Dobbs on Wednesday.
This is bizarre bipartisanship. What's next, Hillary Clinton consulting with Bin Laden on foreign policy?
Dobbs has a deserved reputation for (at a minimum) giving aid and comfort to bigots.
Some of Dobbs' greatest hits: in 2005 the talk show host implied that Latino immigrants were spreading leprosy in the U.S. He falsely stated that illegal immigrants make up a third of the U.S. prison population. In a March 2009 radio broadcast, Dobbs declared, "Mexico has become our enemy." Of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Dobbs said "pure, pure, absolute pandering to the Hispanics ... "
Dobbs has also stated his support for extremist groups and individuals like the Minute Men, a militia group that patrols the border, and Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who marched inmates from his infamous tent prisons through the streets in pink underwear. Dobbs has ties to the hard-line anti-immigration group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR); the talk show host broadcast one of his radio shows from a FAIR event, and the organization, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has given Dobbs an award for, in their words, "his continued efforts in leading the immigration reform movement."
More recently, Dobbs shocked even his greatest critics by promoting the birther theory -- the thoroughly debunked claim that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore not eligible to be President. Although Dobbs was repeatedly slammed for giving the racially charged theory a mainsteam platform, CNN refused to take action against the host; network President Jonathan Klein said that pursuing the discredited birther theory was Dobbs' editorial decision to make.
Are we Democrats so very afraid and desperate that they now have to kow tow to the bigot vote??? Unbelievable.
In politics, of course, 36 months is the equivalent of what scientists call "geologic time." Anything can happen between now and then. And it looks like it already has. Dobbs, sounding like every other "I voted for it before I voted against it" mush-mouth politician, declared himself in favor of an amnesty program for illegal immigrants this week - a complete reversal of his long-held public position. He also told viewers of the Spanish-speaking network Telemundo that "I am one of your greatest friends."
This from a man once described as illegal immigrants' No. 1 enemy, a man who once accused undocumented Mexican workers of bringing leprosy into the United States and who regularly railed on his program about how illegal immigrants threatened the nation's economy, security and well-being. His supporters must have whiplash this week.
They continued:
Flip-flop or not, Dobbs, who owns a horse farm in Sussex County, will have his work cut for him should he decide to run for the Senate. For one thing, he's an independent and the electoral system does not favor independent candidates. For another, a Dobbs spokesman said this week that Dobbs really wants to be president, but considers a brief stint as a U.S. senator a necessary intermediate step. His opposition researchers should have fun with that morsel of opportunism.
Flip-flopper. Opportunist.
Dobbs would fit right in with Jersey politics.
Ouch. And thats the reviews from the Asbury Park Press. With friends like that...
There's a good deal of speculation regarding the next stop for Lou Dobbs after his resignation from CNN last week. The NY Post looks at the angle of him potentially challenging Senator Menendez for the US Senate seat and gets this comment from his people:
Dobbs' spokesman, Robert Dilenschneider, said: "He's in the process of evaluating things. He's been approached [about politics] but he's also been approached by other media. There are a lot of people talking to him right now."
There may be plenty of people talking to him, but there are also plenty of people talking about him. Pollsters are already salivating over the potential of a Dobbs/Menendez matchup:
"Lou Dobbs would certainly be an early front-runner" for the nomination if he ran, said Patrick Murray, a polling chief at Monmouth University in New Jersey.
But Dobbs' key issue -- his calls for strict controls on US borders and the tightening of rules for illegal aliens -- could be problematic in a state with a high immigrant population, said Murray.
"One out of five New Jerseyans were born outside of this country. That's a lot of people," said Murray.
The Senator wasn't waiting for Dobbs to decide on his future before offering comment on Dobbs past at CNN and his resignation:
Menendez, the Senate's only Hispanic member, has already taken a shot at Dobbs by calling his departure from CNN "addition by subtraction." His office did not return a call for comment yesterday.
If Dobbs did decide to run, that race would be filled with fireworks for sure. He would have to change his registration back as he switched from Republican to Independent in 2006, but his rhetoric could stay the same.
"Senator Menendez has his nose to the grindstone to help create an economic recovery for New Jersey families and will not be distracted by an election three years away," said the spokesman, Afshin Mohamadi. "I'm sure that he would relish eventually having an opponent from so far out of the mainstream and who has never done a thing for the hard-working people of New Jersey, but the senator's focus is on jobs, not Dobbs. The senator has developed a record of delivering job-creating programs and tax relief, and as he builds upon it, 2012 will in large part take care of itself."
This should squash any ambitions Dobbs has of running for office in NJ, or that Christie/Guadagno may have of hiring Dobbs as New Jersey's "alien hunter".
The speech was given over a year ago, but it would be truly shocking, even for Fox, if they back peddled after giving Rivera assurances that Dobbs would be working at Fox.
If anyone has any doubts that Dobbs is radioactive toast, check this out...
Lou Dobbs announced he is leaving CNN effective immediately. He says he is considering a number of options. Some have speculated he will go to Fox News, but FireDogLake users observe he sounds like he is running for office. If I am not mistake, he lives in New Jersey, but I'm not sure what he could run for here. There aren't any high level opportunities here for three years, unless he's making an independent run for President.
Congressman Pallone was on Lou Dobbs last night with Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn to talk about the healthcare town halls and all of the rhetoric going on these days:Pallone tried to downplay some of the shows at town hall meetings and said he has two of his own coming up. He said he thinks people are responding because they think it's a big priority. Pallone said the bill is still a work in progress and he thinks that the more input they get, the better.
Congressmen Holt and Hoekstra, both members of the House Intelligence Committee appeared on the Lou Dobbs show to face off over a potential investigation of the CIA.
Congressman Holt started by taking the opportunity to reiterate that he has been pushing for an investigation of the CIA, but pointed out that he is looking for something with a broader scope than what is currently being considered. Congressman Hoekstra trotted out the Democrats have attacked the CIA argument in response, to which Congressman Holt said that "it's not the same Peter Hoekstra that I've served on this committee for so many years with."
Dobbs tried to say the program wasn't implemented and asked what they could possibly do. Holt said the program was operational, but that the law requires informing even for anticipated operations. He said there was a responsibility and legal obligation to keep Congress informed, reiterating some of the same points he made with us recently on Blue Jersey Radio.
Dobbs then turned to Hoekstra again, who tried to define operational saying that while money was spent, the full intent of the program wasn't carried out, though I think Holt would argue that isn't really necessary to require briefing. Hoekstra made sure to finish his points by going back to the Democrats saying the CIA lied argument.
Lou Dobbs told the Star Ledger today he's "not considering anything right now in terms of running for governor". Awww. Lou was such a tease. I was really looking forward to the Dobbs/Cresitello dream ticket.
Either the NJGOP is going to try and avoid this year's embarrassing "now-you-see-our-candidate-now-you-don't" or they are going to extend the shellgame. Josh Margolin of the Star-Ledger is reporting that Lou Dobbs has "inquired about the steps necessary to start a campaign."
Reached by telephone Wednesday at his home -- a 300-acre horse farm in Wantage, Sussex County -- Dobbs would not say whether he has any such plans. Asked if he wanted to deny it, Dobbs said, "I'm just not going to comment."
snip
Dobbs, 62, first registered to vote in Sussex County in 1991 as a Republican, but switched to independent in 2006, according to the county Board of Elections.
State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson said Dobbs' interest in the Garden State's governorship is circulating among Republican officials and fund-raisers in Manhattan and Washington. Several told The Star-Ledger they had heard about it, although not directly from Dobbs.
"It's certainly a fun and interesting rumor but if he's seriously interested he'd be better off talking to people who actually live in New Jersey and who know what it takes to mount a campaign for governor," said Wilson, who managed the 1997 re-election campaign of then-Gov. Christie Whitman. If Dobbs is thinking about running for the GOP nomination, Wilson said, "The first thing he should do is register as a Republican."
Hmmm, Dobbs works for CNN, which is derided by Faux News as being a bastion of leftiness. Of course, when you are at ten on the extremist scale, an eight looks pretty soft. Still, it would be one way to get this blowhard off the air - even if it only lasted a year or so.
Wilson said there is someone whom Republican leaders in New Jersey would like to see run for governor, "and right now it's not Lou Dobbs, it's Chris Christie," the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
Wonder if Dodd's ego could take second billiing as Lt. Gov...
