The American Spectator

br> — CRD br> Dallas, Texas /p>

The scenario laid out in David Hogberg’s article, “Bush in Trouble,” describes a difficult, but workable, solution to the president’s re-election bid. The president, Hogberg declares, is in some trouble with his base, but with a veto here, a reform there, things will improve, and although the re-election is not certain, the president’s chances are, on the whole, reasonably good. Was it Nixon who said: when the going gets tough, the tough get going? Granted, this article deals only with financial/economic issues, and not the full range of discontent within the party, but the trouble is, I suspect, far more pervasive than Hogberg indicates.

Curiously absent from the piece is the growing belief that job displacement and unemployment are the result of disastrous immigration policy. In areas of the Midwest, the job loss at former industrial centers, caused by industries moving overseas, is staggering. Bush’s policies are not wholly responsible for the baleful state of U.S. industrial production, but the situation has deteriorated even further on his watch. U.S. computer engineers, replaced by an Asian workforce, face serious problems finding new jobs. Further, the employment of contract labor, usually Mexican, into the meat cutting and processing centers in Nebraska and Virginia continues apace. There are countless more examples, but the point is that the administration’s failure to resolve this problem is further eroding that Republican base. Hogberg mentions the president’s inability to rise above the 90% mark with the GOP faithful since late last year. I believe the president’s serious decline occurred in January, when he raised the specter of another amnesty for illegal aliens, which did not endear him to many of his (formerly) loyal supporters, especially in the Southwest. Will the president provide the “coattail effect” and aid Republicans running in the House and Senate to win a GOP majority in the legislature? It is far too early to tell, but it would not surprise me if the Democrats regain control of the Senate.

p>In mid-June, for the first and only time in my life, I walked a picket line to call attention to the problem of illegal immigration’s negative impact on the economy and the administration’s apparent unwillingness to confront the issue. There were 33 marchers there, all of whom are registered Republicans, several of whom worked in his campaign in 2000 as well. What is instructive is that, rather than vote for President Bush in November, these former stalwarts will stay home. Yes, Mr. Hogberg is right: the president is in trouble. br> — Vincent Chiarello /p> p> TOY EMPEROR br> Re: John Tabin’s Fahrenheit’s Facts :