On Breitbart News Sunday, conservative Louisiana Senate candidate Rob Maness said that unlike incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and establishment Republican candidate Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), he is opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. He also said his 32 years in the Air Force will allow him to better understand national security issues than either Cassidy or Landrieu.
“I don’t believe in any form of amnesty,” said Maness, who was one of the first signers of the Federation of American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR) anti-amnesty pledge.
Maness, an Air Force veteran who campaigned with Sarah Palin over the weekend, told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that Landrieu is for an “all-out amnesty” while his establishment Republican opponent Cassidy is for a “pathway to citizenship” after illegal immigrants pay a fine.
Maness said that the border “must be secure for national security reasons and for our immigration policy” and noted that it is simply “inhumane to allow that border to be open and encourage children” from Central America to go on harrowing journeys thinking they will receive amnesty once they reach the United States. Maness also said that amnesty for illegal immigrants is unfair to American citizens and legal immigrants who are in line to get citizenship. He mentioned that legal immigrants he has spoken to on the campaign trail have been vociferously against amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Maness said immigration is yet another issue in which Cassidy, who used to be a Democrat and a former donor to Landrieu, will not be able to draw a bold enough contrast to win a one-on-one matchup against Landrieu. He noted that Cassidy is the type of candidate that Landrieu has defeated in the general election in the past and said Louisiana voters “see right through the facade that the GOP establishment is trying to put up” with Cassidy. Maness said he decided to enter the race between two establishment candidates because he did not see a true conservative on the ballot and urged listeners to go to Robmaness.com or GeauxManess.com to help his campaign on the ground send the D.C. establishment a message.
Maness noted that both Cassidy and Landrieu voted for the Continuing Resolution that gave Obama a “blank check” to “use our sons and daughters at will” in the Middle East against ISIS without a declaration of war. He said it was a “dereliction of duty” for Members of Congress to go on hiatus after giving Obama that blank check.
“We need to have war fighters that understand what it means to send our sons and daughters to risk their lives,” Maness said. “Because their lives will be lost.”
Maness said Obama’s foreign policy is “ludicrous” and “ridiculous” and his plan to defeat ISIS will not work. He said Obama had to show Congress his strategy to eliminate the ISIS threat with clear objectives, a definition of success, and a defined exit strategy. He said America needs a policy of “overwhelming force” that will achieve victory “with the least loss of life and the least amount of time expended and the least amount of treasure expended.” And he warned about arming Syrian rebels whose allegiances are murky because those weapons could be used on Americans in the future.
As Breitbart News has noted, “Maness is in third place in Louisiana’s jungle primary against incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Rep. Bill Cassidy, the moderate establishment Republican who is leading in the polls and may have trouble against Landrieu in a one-on-one matchup”:
A recent poll showed that Maness is within an eight-point swing of overtaking Cassidy. If nobody gets more than 50% of the vote in November, the top two will square off in a December runoff that may decide control of the U.S. Senate.
Palin has previously hailed Maness, as Breitbart News reported, for “opposing amnesty, pledging to protect our Second Amendment rights, and promising to defund Obamacare.” And she has ripped Cassidy opposing Ronald Reagan in the past and for actually being “a supporter of Mary Landrieu until recent years.” Others have noted that Landrieu always beats candidates like Cassidy who are unable to draw sharp contrasts in a one-on-one matchup.
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council that hosted this weekend’s Values Voter Summit, said he has seen “private polling” not conducted for any campaign that, according to The Hill, “shows Maness more competitive in a runoff than” Cassidy, the “establishment pick” who is leading in the polls.
“I think our best chance to pick up a Senate seat in Louisiana is Rob Maness,” Perkins toldThe Hill. “That’s why I endorsed him.”
RedState noted that “Cassidy and Landrieu are creatures of Washington, D.C.” and pointed to moderate candidates the establishment pushed in GOP primaries who are now struggling in places like North Carolina and Kansas.
As Breitbart News previously noted, “Cassidy has donated thousands of dollars” to Landrieu, “which will make it tough to run against her in a general election.” He has also “mocked Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal” and “openly supported Michael Dukakis.”
Furthermore, Cassidy “campaigned for TARP and now claims he opposes it, which will make it even more difficult for voters in Louisiana to differentiate Cassidy from Landrieu.”
“Louisiana, Col. Rob Maness fought for us for 32 years. Let’s fight for him these next six months and let him continue to support and defend our Constitution in the U.S. Senate,” Palin said when she endorsed Maness months ago.
Since then, Maness, a 32-year career in the Air Force, has secured endorsements from the “Senate Conservatives Fund, Family Research Council, Gun Owners of America, National Association of Gun Rights, Gun Rights Across America, Eagle Forum, and Tea Party Express.”
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