Huckabee Gets Endorsement From…The Minutemen?
Well, not the Minutemen group specifically, but it’s founder Jim Gilchrist has given Huck his endorsement.
Huckabee defended his immigration stance by welcoming the support of James Gilchrist, the controversial founder of the Minuteman Project, a citizens group that tries to monitor U.S. borders to prevent illegal immigration.
Gilchrist and Huckabee were told that some view the Minutemen as an angry band of self-appointed vigilantes.
“I’m not angry at anyone,” Huckabee replied. “I’m angry at the government. I’m not angry immigrants want to come here.”
This strikes me as about as bizarre as Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Giuliani. Huckabee has a weak record on illegal immigration, including support for things like tuition entitlements for illegals, while Gilchrist has always been an immigration hardliner.
I like Gilchrist, and I support the goals of the Minutemen, but this smacks of sheer political opportunism to me. Huckabee needed credibility on illegal immigration, Gilchrist and his group hadn’t gotten any attention in a while so needed to get his name in the headlines again.
