Say Anything Blog

This seems like a rather bizarre flip-flop coming from Huck given that he’s said previously that his “soul” would not let him deny entitlements to the children of illegal immigrants.

Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced.

Mr. Huckabee, who won last week’s Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.

So why the sudden change in attitude?  Oh yeah, South Carolina.  Where illegal immigration is issue #1 among Republican voters.

For me, this comes off as rank pandering.  Are we really to believe that Huckabee has gone from feeling that it’s immoral to deny the children of illegal immigrants access to this nation’s entitlements to feeling that we should deny them citizenship?  I think that’s asking a lot even of the most adamant Huckabee supporters.

Update: Mark Levin adds:

... if anyone is counting, this makes four constitutional amendments Huckabee claims to be supporting:

1. the Fair Tax requires a constitutional amendment to eliminate the Sixteenth Amendment;
2. a Human Life amendment;
3. an amendment to define marriage;
and now,
4. an amendment to end birthright citizenship.

Now, isn’t it time that Huckabee explain how he plans to organize an effort to get two thirds of both Houses of Congress, which might include a whole bunch of Democrats, to achieve any of this?

Update: Huckabee is denying his support for ending birthright citizenship via this press release:

I do not support an amendment to the constitution that would prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens.  I have no intention of supporting a constitutional amendment to deny birthright citizenship.

So what to think now?  Did Huckabee just hang Gilchrist out to dry?  Did he make the promise and reneg?  Or did Gilchrist lie about Huck’s support for such an amendment in the first place.

I’m leaning toward Huck hanging Gilchrist out to dry.  Certainly Gilchrist isn’t the most credible of political operatives, but he certainly can’t be so stupid as to think that he won’t get burned for saying Huck supports something he doesn’t.  More likely Huckabee made this promise to Gilchrist because he was desperate to shore up his illegal immigration record and needed to get Gilchrist on board with him some how.