If you haven’t gotten the idea that illegal immigration has supplanted the Long War as a hot-button issue, this may provide further proof. Not five minutes after I put last night’s post to bed, I got an e-mail presser from Senator Pipkin’s campaign:
Harris Supports Illegal Immigrants
Politicians can say anything. Andy Harris believes he can tell the voters anything and get away with it. In an effort to pull the wool over the eyes of Republican primary voters and convince them that he has conservative credentials, Andy Harris says and does anything to win votes.
But no matter what he says, his record speaks loud and clear.
In 2003, Andy Harris voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition. Harris sided with the illegal immigration lobby and voted for HB253. This bill would have allowed illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition. Pipkin campaign manager Mike Brown points out, “Harris likes to talk tough on the campaign trail. The reality is he flip flops more than John Kerry. Does ‘I voted for it, before I voted against it’ sound familiar?”
Since entering the congressional race, Harris has tried to fool voters into believing he is tough on illegal immigration. “Once again, Harris is just not being truthful with the voters. He voted to give people who sneak into our country the same rights as hard working Maryland families,” Brown added.
By contrast, EJ Pipkin has consistently voted against allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Pipkin has a record of being strong on the issue even before he decided to run for Congress in the 1st District.
During the 2007 Special Session, Pipkin sponsored a two-pronged approach to take action against illegal immigration. He introduced legislation that would deny in-state college tuition as well as driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Second, to establish a measure of fiscal responsibility, he also introduced legislation to force the State of Maryland to assess how much illegal immigrants cost the taxpayers.”The more people scrutinize Harris’ record the more they realize he and his campaign will say anything to distort the record. I fully expect them to try and deny that they voted for this bill,” stated Brown.
I’m sure the timing was coincidental, but to become more informed I looked up the bill in question. Originally it was intended for immigrants, but later was amended by State Senator Pinsky to include returning servicemen. Harris voted for the third reading of the Senate bill that included the amendments (while Pipkin voted no) but both voted against the bill after the House/Senate conference committee dropped one amendment. Eventually the measure was vetoed by Governor Ehrlich anyway.
It’s the nature of legislation which leads to “gotcha” votes on certain issues. One could take Pipkin’s vote against the legislation as proof he was unfriendly to veterans’ interests as well.
Also in my e-mail box today I got this message. But I’m going to play a game with it as you’ll see.
With only (a time period) to go though, we still have a lots of work to do to overcome (another candidate’s) organization and his negative attacks. He has outspent us … and nearly everyone I meet has seen one of his negative and false attack ads about me or has received a desperate piece of direct mail from his campaign that makes me sound like I should be run out of (a geographic area).
In political consultant lingo, (my opponent’s) campaign is trying to “define me” for voters. The thinking goes, if you run enough negative attack ads, people will begin to believe what they hear and will decide to stay home on (election) night. It is an old trick in politics and probably one of the worst. Wouldn’t it be better if (my opponent) spent his energy and money trying to define himself?
Doesn’t that sound like the First District? It’s actually from Mike Huckabee and talks about Mitt Romney’s Iowa campaign. Here’s what it really says:
With only days to go though, we still have a lots (sic) of work to do to overcome Governor Romney’s organization and his negative attacks. He has outspent us 20 to 1 and nearly everyone I meet has seen one of his negative and false attack ads about me or has received a desperate piece of direct mail from his campaign that makes me sound like I should be run out of Iowa all of the way back to Arkansas.
In political consultant lingo, Governor Romney’s campaign is trying to “define me” for voters. The thinking goes, if you run enough negative attack ads, people will begin to believe what they hear and will decide to stay home on Caucus night. It is an old trick in politics and probably one of the worst. Wouldn’t it be better if Governor Romney spent his energy and money trying to define himself?
By the way, would someone teach Huckabee’s writers a bit more grammar? It’s not the first example of poor proofreading I’ve come across from their camp.
But back to my main point. Another old political trick is for people who have been in the game for a number of years to try and define themselves as “outsiders” who have the deck stacked against them. This is what Huckabee’s attempting to do here (since the e-mail also came with a financial appeal.) Personally, I’m trying to define the candidates based on the issues.
Speaking of that, I think early next week I’ll do my evaluation of how E.J. Pipkin stands on the issues compared to his opponents. It’s not going to be easy because he doesn’t have a whole lot on his website to go by but I’ll do my best.
And as I alluded to yesterday, I did hear from Andy Harris’s campaign regarding polling. I can reveal that their job performance numbers on Wayne Gilchrest aren’t nearly as bad as Pipkin’s, at least in the unfavorable category. (While it’s still leaning unfavorable, the margin is under 10 points.) They also claimed that Pipkin’s numbers were significantly lower in their survey a week before, and questioned how he could gain that much on his poll number in such a short period.
Most astute observers of the political world know that a good campaign press person is paid to blow sunshine up the collective skirts of the media. I’m sure the Gilchrest team has a third set of numbers that they haven’t revealed outside their campaign but they’re using their figures to plot strategy too. Honestly, I’m not wild about the negative tone that the First District campaign’s taken but negativity seems to appeal to the voters who think they can do things better than their man in Washington so campaigns use the tried-and-true to get their point across.
Crossposted on Red Maryland.
EJ Pikpin is an Eastern Shore Conservative? That’s a joke. First, he is the most liberal Republican in Annapolis. He voted for O’Malley’s budget, opposes energy deregulation, is liberal on social issues such as gay rights, gun control and abortion. In fact, he was a staunch ally of Wayne Gilchrest (at least up until last month). The two proudly call themselves “green Republicans.” I call them RINOs.
Even more absurd is Pipkin’s parochial rebel yell of “I’m the Eastern Shore guy.” Hogwash. He was born in Dundalk. He was raised in Dundalk. He has lived most of his adult life in a liberal enclave of Westchester County, New York. And he now lives in western Cecil County, which isn’t even a part of the Eastern Shore. In fact, he geographically lives on the Western Shore, although he technically lives in an “Eastern Shore County.” (Pipkin, I am told, lives right off I-95 on a golf course. This area of Cecil County is NOT the Eastern Shore).
To sum it up, Pipkin votes like Al Gore, and he lives on the WESTERN SHORE.
Davey,
First let me debunk your myth that because Pipkin voted for the “O’Malley Budget” as you call it, 7 of the 14 republicans in the Senate voted for the “O’Malley Budget” as you call it, including 3 who endorsed Harris. Not to mention that both the Minority leader in the House and the Senate, Del. O’Donnell and Sen. Brinkley, voted for that very same “O’Malley Budget”. Not to pile on, but 32 of the 37 House Republicans voted for that “O’Malley Budget”.
So I guess that makes them all Liberals!
Second, Pipkin is far from a liberal when it comes to Guns. He has received an A or A+ rating from the NRA in every election he has been in, as well as getting the NRA,Tripwire and GOA (Gun Owners of America) endorsement in the U.S. Senate race and the last State Senate race. He was also the lead sponsor for the range protection bill during the 2005, which the NRA’s top priority in Maryland. So I think your assertion that he is a Liberal on Gun issues is official debunked.
Third, Your claim that Cecil County is not a part of the Eastern Shore is completely without merit. It is clearly east of the Chesapeake Bay, and He actually lives in Elkton, which is in the south-eastern part of the County. Before he moved there, he lived in Queen Annes County from 1998 until this year. And for the record, atleast Pipkin was born and raised in Maryland, unlike Harris who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and only moved here for college in Baltimore.
And Lastly, the Al Gore reference is not even worth responding too.
Three for Three, not a bad percentage if I say so myself.