Ron Paul Plays Immigration Card in NH

This week, Ron Paul has started running “get tough” ads on NH television. [WorldNetDaily: Ron Paul shocker: No more `anchor babies`, January 4, 2007]These are some of the most frank ads relating to immigration we`ve ever seen from a major presidential candidate.

Now, I wish Paul luck in his New Hampshire race. I feel Paul clearly has the best immigration record of the current GOP line-up. However, I can`t help but wondering if Paul is emphasizing the wrong aspects of the immigration issue to win in NH. NH is a state with quite a bit of tech employment. I suspect the jobs of many folks in NH are more threatened by programs like H-1b than by illegal immigration. Now, Paul`s record on resisting expansion of H-1b is better than any other major GOP candidate (Kucinich is the only Democrat with a better record on resisting expansion of guest worker visas.)

Still, the anchor baby issue is very, very real. Someone I know well used to work in a birth center at UC San Francisco. They had a steady stream of women who would fly out from Asia near the end of their pregnancies specifically so their child would be a US citizen. Those women were generally part of Asia`s middle class-and would enter the US legally on a tourist visa. I applaud Dr. Paul`s courage in bringing this issue up.

What is interesting here, is that Paul`s ads in NH just may be starting to work. In the latest Rasmussen Poll, Paul was coming in 3rd at 14%. That is a huge change from past polls-and a better performance than Paul had in Iowa.

The central rule of politics is constant improvement. If Paul can come in a surprise 3rd in NH and then continue doing better in other states between now and Super Tuesday, he may still have a shot at the GOP nomination.