Once again I am prophetic in my pre-topical posts.

As goes the Prescos. So goes the nation.

Jon

November 23, 2011 10:58 AM PrintText Does Newt Gingrich have an immigration problem after the GOP debate?

Did Newt Gingrich have one idea too many? At the CNN national security debate on Tuesday, the former speaker said that he would not be in favor of kicking out illegal immigrant families that had been in the country for a long time. “The party that says it’s the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century?” he said. “I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, ‘Let’s be humane in enforcing the law.'” (watch below) Michele Bachmann said Gingrich was offering amnesty. Mitt Romney said Gingrich was offering a “magnet” that would encourage more illegal immigration.

A similar moment almost exactly two months ago started Rick Perry’s downfall. He said those who didn’t agree with his in-state tuition program for the children of undocumented workers were “heartless.” In 2008 it was John McCain’s support for something conservatives called amnesty that almost killed his campaign. Whether Gingrich is thrown over the side for his views on immigration will tell us where we are in the Republican nominating race. If he is jettisoned–for this and not the many other reasons–it will mean that conservatives are still looking for the (nonexistent) perfect candidate: One slip up and you’re gone, because we’ve got a hangar full of gleaming models to choose from. If Gingrich does weather this moment, it will mean that the Republican presidential campaign is moving to that inevitable stage at which voters recognize that all candidates are flawed but some are less flawed than others, or have attributes that outweigh their flaws