The pro-amnesty and open borders Wall Street Journal wants former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to not back down on Common Core and amnesty, the two issues that may represent the greatest divide between the bipartisan political class and Main Street.
The Journal, which Bush has hailed as his “paper of record,” argued that Bush was right when he recently said during a Journal event that a Republican must be willing to “lose the primary to win the general” election.
“Mr. Bush’s two main political liabilities in the primaries are said to be his support for immigration and for Common Core education standards,” the Journal opined. “Neither is an insuperable barrier to the nomination.”
The Journal declared that Bush “needn’t repudiate his support” for Common Core and “shouldn’t budge in his support” for comprehensive amnesty legislation.
Despite Gallup polls that found illegal immigration is the top concern for Republicans, the Journal claimed that “immigration isn’t the most important issue for most Republicans, beyond countering President Obama ‘s recent decree, and Mr. Bush can make a strong case for reform that promotes economic growth and keeps the U.S. a magnet for talent.” During the 2008 election cycle, when the Republican party was less conservative than it is today according to Gallup measurements, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) almost lost the nomination because of his support for comprehensive amnesty legislation. McCain’s embrace of amnesty caused his fundraising to dry up and forced him to fly in coach class and carry his own bags during trips to New Hampshire town halls.
Denigrating conservatives who want to put American workers and legal immigrants ahead of illegal immigrants as “restrictionists,” the Journal urges Bush to “welcome an immigration debate in the primaries that would set him up to win more minority votes in November” even though studies have shown that amnesty legislation will not guarantee that Hispanics will flood to the GOP. In fact, there will be a path to the White House without a massive increase in the Hispanic vote for Republicans potentially even beyond 2016.