For 25 seconds, Gene Locke attempts to attack Annise Parker on the issue of crime, and not very effectively. But for 5-seconds, he takes a mean turn, announcing that he’ll check Latinos immigration status at the jail.
What’s up with that?
Throughout the campaign, Locke has been inconsistent on the immigration and 287(g) issue. He tells one group he doesn’t want to racially profile, while he tells another group he is for the wholesale profiling of Latinos, as long as it’s done at the jails. Such is the way bad politicians handle hot button issues: They tailor their issue=stances according to which group they speak.
But, things are a whole helluva lot different when you mass communicate on hot button issues. You can no longer be consistently inconsistent. The old policy of appeasement is no longer valid. It’s all about trying to get every vote–no matter how obvious it is that you are selling out whole groups of people.
For Locke, it has happened multiple times. He “went there” when he sought out anti-gay-monger Steven Hotze’s less-than-coveted endorsement in order to gain some right-wing-nut votes, and now, he is doing the same thing while appeasing the Border Watch-allied Cop’s union. One might say that Locke is now anti-Affirmative Action, given Hotze’s railing against equal opportunity.
Now, anyone who reads DC knows that I have been most critical of the candidates when it comes to the issue of local enforcement of civil immigration regulations. If they are so hell-bent on enforcing civil and administrative laws, then why aren’t they out arresting refinery and chemical plant owners for violating clean air and water regulations?
Well, perhaps Locke is realizing a few things through his million-dollar consultants:
- He does not have much Latino support for which to fight.
- He thinks that the way to a right-wingers heart is through hating on Latinos.
Before his mouthpiece says that Locke hasn’t hated on Latinos, I must say that we understand code words and statements where one doesn’t even have to sound hateful. But we get the message.
Ultimately, as Republicans have proven since 2006, this is a losing message. Blaming hard-working immigrants for Houston’s crime problem shows a sense of desperation, or worse, a sense that one is willing to say anything for a few votes.
But I will say this: There is no need for the competition to respond to those 5 seconds.
