The above is a stylized version of the opinion expressed by Fresno Bee political columnist María Elena Salinas, and we tend to see some truth in it. This, kiddies, is how you piggyback onto expertise:

It now seems to be pretty clear that immigration will be one of the issues — if not the key issue — that will be driving the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. And the more hard-line approach a candidate takes, the better the chances of winning the nomination.

The pissing match between Massachussetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has indeed begun, singling out urban sprawls like Gotham that serve as havens for undocumented immigrants. Cracking down on these so-called “sanctuary cities,” building a border fence, and adopting a universal ID card for foreigners are just some measures these two have tossed about to elicit a hard-on from their xenophobic constituencies. Salinas’ point is that each candidate sang a different tune before deciding to run for president.

For example, in the penultimate year of his second term, Giuliani went on record to say “immigration is the key to [New York’s] success”; that’s just one among a slew of his other pro-immigration soundbites. Romney, meanwhile, welcomed illegals from Guatemala onto the staff that landscaped his manor grounds for a good decade. Conclusion? Flip-flopping is like they have is totally acceptable when the highest office in the land is at stake. They don’t call it politics for nothing, folks.

Which Republican is most anti-immigrant? [María Elena Salinas / Fresno Bee]
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