GOP Future: Bush's immigration advice
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 9:06 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Republicans
“President Bush called for a ‘compassionate’ Republican Party and warned against the GOP becoming ‘anti-immigrant’ in one of his last interviews as president, defending his vision of the party, which has become unpopular among some Republicans,” the Washington Post writes. “‘It's very important for our party not to narrow its focus, not to become so inward-looking that we drive people away from a philosophy that is compassionate and decent,’ the president said in an interview on ‘Fox News Sunday’... ‘We shouldn't have litmus tests as to whether or not you can be a Republican. And we should be open-minded about big issues like immigration reform, because if we're viewed as anti-somebody -- in other words, if the party is viewed as anti-immigrant -- then another fellow may say, “Well, if they're against the immigrant, they may be against me.”’”
“Bush, when asked about how the GOP could avoid the kind of losses it suffered in the 2008 election -- it lost the presidency and several seats in the House and Senate -- said, ‘I think that we shouldn't change our philosophy.’ But he added: ‘We may want to change our message. . . . We need a new group of leaders.’”
The Sunday New York Times front-paged how two African Americans -- Ken Blackwell and Michael Steele -- are running for RNC chair.
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe's front-page centerpiece examines the "Bush Legacy." "But academics, while echoing many of the criticisms, also note that Bush's presidency won't be an easy one for future historians to assess. While most unsuccessful presidencies, such as Jimmy Carter's and Herbert Hoover's, involved presidents who were considered captives of events, unable to muster effective responses, Bush's was one of bold strokes that, for better or worse, will be debated for a long time. From his precipitous decision to invade Iraq to his order giving wide latitude to CIA interrogators of terrorism suspects to his demand for $700 billion to shore up financial institutions, Bush's presidency has been one of strong actions followed by equally strong -- and in some cases even stronger -- reactions."
