VOTE 60 : Why is Dick Day running for the House of Representatives ?

State Senator Dick Day of Owatonna wants to represent the First District of Minnesota in the House of Representative and his major platform is illegal immigration.
Using the motto, Strong Borders, Strong Future; he hopes to write a bill to overhaul the entire immigration system.
Day told KEYC_TV , ''I can assure you every place that I've went in the first district eight out of ten people when I sit down and say what's your biggest concern they say illegal immigration.

Is the First District any different than the entire State of Minnesota ?
Is this a problem that Dick Day can best resolve as a member of the 435 member House of Representatives ?
If Dick Day really wants to resolve this issue, he needs to be in the US Senate.

President Bush supported the Senate's "comprehensive" approach to immigration reform which was passed in May 2006 with the support of Republican Senator Norm Coleman's vote.
The comprehensive immigration reform would have strengthened border security, but would also create a program permitting illegal immigrants who had resided in the United States for five years or more to "earn" their citizenship after paying a fine and back taxes, learning English and holding a job for six years. It also would allow illegal immigrants who have resided in the United States from two to five years to apply for a guest worker program.

Previously, in December 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Reform Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437).
Actually, the immigration issue has been a major issue in the House since the establishment of Immigration Reform Caucus in May 1999.

The differences were so significant that the House and Senate were never resolved during the 109th Congress.

During the 110th Congress, the Senate has tried to address the issue with a compromise bill offered by Senators Kyl (R) and Kennedy (D) but that failed to be brought up for a final vote. This failure caused Morton Kondracke to name some Senators - including Republican Norm Coleman - the "cowardice caucus" for having voted "yes" in 2006 and "no" this year. This was not a vote For or Against the legislation … it was just a vote to whether to debate the issue … hence “cowards”.

Obviously, Norm Coleman and the Senate is where the problem lies. Day would have a greater impact on this issue in the Senate … especially since the issue has seen a number of proponents of strict immigration reform will not be in the House in 2009. The Immigration Reform Caucus will be losing its founding member – Tom Tancredo – plus other prominent members who have announced they will not be up for election including Barbara Cubin(R-WY), Terry Everett(R-AL), Duncan Hunter(R-CA), Chip Pickering(R-MS), and Rick Renzo(R-AZ). Now, I know that there is no guarantee that the people who take those seats won’t have the same passion as Day, but in the 2006 election Immigration Reform Caucus members J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), John Hostettler (R-IN — the chair in the 109th Congress of the House Immigration Subcommittee), Chris Chocola (R-IN), Anne Northup (R-KY), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Charles Taylor (R-NC), Richard Pombo (R-CA) and of course, former First District Congressman Gil Gutknecht all lost. The Minuteman successfully got Randy Graf on the Republican ballot to replace retiring Representative Jim Kolbe … Graf lost. Conversely, there was strong support against Republican Chris Cannon since he opposed strict immigration laws but Cannon successfully beat a fellow Republican in the primary and a Democrat in the November election.

Politically, I see immigration as a decisive issue that is ripping the Republican Party apart. But if Day feels that passionately it about it (and 8 or 10 people tell him so) then he needs to challenge Norm Coleman in the Republican primary.

The US Senate Straw Poll is February 5th so if you are part of the "8 out of 10" remember the name, Dick Day !

FYI – The VOTE 60 in the title of this commentary refers to my effort to promote the importance of the US Senate races in 2008. VOTE 60 will be the headline of future commentaries and you can read about it here.