Run for President, but Not on the Fence

The so-called "moderate" in the field of Republican presidential contenders apparently can't seem to decide which side of the immigration fence he wants to fall on.

If Jon Huntsman jumps to the right, his pro-immigrant record could come back to haunt him. After all, the former Utah governor allowed undocumented immigrants to get driving permits in his state. He is a rare Republican who recognizes the reality of U.S. Latino demographics. He has condemned the "nativist language" that has driven many people away from the Republican Party and recognized that the GOP needs to "expand" its "demographic base."

But if Huntsman jumps to the left, if he recognizes that only a legalization plan could ease our illegal immigration problems, conservative extremists would demonize him, and his chances of success in the GOP primaries would be diminished.

If he were to run to the right in the primaries and then to the left in the general election, he would be seen as a hypocrite and flip-flopper.

And that is why we see Huntsman running on the fence, trying to do a balancing act as if he were a circus performer on a tightrope.

In Miami last week, Huntsman tiptoed through a minefield of immigration questions, which mostly went unanswered. According to The Miami Herald, Huntsman said he supports "elements" of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act (which would provide a path to legalization for young undocumented immigrants), but he would not specify which elements. He was asked whether he would require employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the eligibility of new workers, but reportedly he only said he would consider it.

The Herald also reported that "Huntsman wasn't sure what to do" about the millions of undocumented immigrants already living here. "Everybody wants to do what's right with 11 or 12 million people," Huntsman was quoted as saying. "That's a very difficult, sensitive and complicated question."

Really? No kidding!

It's hard to tell whether Huntsman actually believes he can go through a presidential campaign without giving clear answers and taking firm positions on controversial matters such as immigration. But for now, he seems to be trying to be as wishy-washy as possible.

This is an issue with which you can't please everyone. Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, there are people who will be adamantly against your position. Yet these are the issues that define true leaders.

Huntsman, who until recently was President Barack Obama's ambassador in China, seems to be short on specifics on many of our most difficult issues.

But on immigration, there are disturbing signs that he already may be feeling the pressure of the conservative base of his party and falling off the tightrope as he shifts to the right.

The Arizona Republic reported that "Huntsman appears to have taken his cue from the tactical shift to the right made in 2007 by U.S.

In the Latino community, that "tactical shift" is better-known as "McCain's betrayal."

Like McCain, Huntsman once supported comprehensive immigration reform with a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. And just like McCain, who flipped in 2007, Huntsman now is saying that the U.S.-Mexico border must be secured first.

"I know the rhetoric and discussion gets very hot. I think to begin the conversation, we need to prove the point we can secure the border," Huntsman said in Florida last week.

As a candidate who used the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop to launch his presidential campaign and as a Republican politician who once had the courage to acknowledge that the notion of a border fence "repulses" him, Huntsman already seems to be flipping.

Given the huge Latino disappointment with President Obama and his infamous unkept "Sí, se puede" promises to reform immigration and given the anti-immigrant sentiments expressed by the leading GOP presidential candidates, Huntsman easily could become "The Great Latino Hope" in this election cycle.

But he would have to have the wisdom to stay away from the conservative extremists, who never would vote for him anyway. He would have to resist the political pressure that transformed McCain from a compassionate conservative into a Draconian immigrant-basher.

The anti-immigrant NumbersUSA organization claims that its staff has conducted "an exhaustive research of public statements and actions by Huntsman on immigration" and has given him a D on its immigration report card. This means that xenophobes are not going to vote for him anyway.

But from the pro-immigrant perspective, that's the equivalent of a B-plus, and that makes Huntsman the only Republican who could compete with Obama for the Latino vote in the general election.

And because the Latino vote could be the swing vote needed to win the presidency, Huntsman needs to stop running on the fence, reassert himself as a champion for immigrants and convince his fellow Republicans that only by embracing Latinos can they win the White House.

When he announced his candidacy with Miss Liberty behind him, Huntsman promised "civility" and denounced the "corrosive" nature of contemporary political debate.

Bravo!

If he can indeed avoid the corrosiveness of those who will ask him to bash immigrants, he may have a chance.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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