Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson says Americans are not ready to accept the immigration reform plan being debated in the U.S. Senate.
"This bill creates amnesty and does not secure the border," Thompson says. "Therefore, it will be a failure like the previous bills that have been passed, especially the law of 1986." Thompson says providing amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal aliens living here now is the wrong path for the country and rewards those who’ve broken the law.
"That’s what’s causing the consternation with conservatives and the American public," Thompson says. This past week two prominent Republican Senators publicly expressed doubts about the course of action President Bush is pursuing in Iraq. Thompson says those are the same concerns he’s been expressing.
"Doesn’t surprise me at all because, you know, if you keep doing the same thing and expect different results, it’s obvious that you’ve got a problem and that’s what the problem is," Thompson says. "They keep expecting that somehow lightning’s going to strike and that somehow they’re going to be able to solve the civil war that’s going on."
Thompson campaigned Wednesday in Iowa City. Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor, plans to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties in the next 45 days. That campaign push leads up to the Iowa Republican Party’s Straw Poll on August 11th.