Steve King offers 2016 GOP candidates an opportunity to be embarrassed by being seen with him

[DonViejo]

Gaffes a la King: Steve King throws a party for immigration activists and Democratic trackers

Steve King offers 2016 GOP candidates an opportunity to be embarrassed by being seen with him

It’s a lucky thing that Steve King is a real person who actually exists, as it saved Democratic and liberal activists the trouble of having to grow him in a lab. The Republican Party’s most prominent anti-immigrant bombthrower is putting on his first “Iowa Freedom Summit” this weekend, which is being billed as the unofficial start to the 2016 nominating contest. Would-be Republican presidential candidates will show up to pay their respects to King and get busy exploiting the anxieties Iowa’s white, rural conservatives feel over undocumented immigration.

Chris Christie will be there, as will Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina, and (of course) Donald Trump. Most of those people stand zero chance of actually becoming president – they’re either too crazy, too laughably incompetent, or Donald Trump – so showing up at a rally thrown by a guy who drops casual references to “murderous illegal aliens” carries little actual political risk. But those whose 2016 hopes aren’t completely far-fetched – Christie, Walker, and (because I’m feeling generous) Perry – have plenty to worry about, given that King is basically throwing one big party for Democratic groups hunting for embarrassing gaffes and Hispanic activists looking to put Republicans in the hot seat.

King is a guy who loves confrontation, and he provokes public outrage as part of a deliberate strategy to derail progress on immigration reform. When he refers to undocumented immigrants as “deportables” or says the vast majority of immigrants are drug mules with overdeveloped leg muscles, he’s purposefully bringing heat down on himself because he knows it’ll also gin up conservative outrage over immigration. This strategy has been extremely effective – King has hijacked the GOP’s immigration policy and pushed the party so far right that they only legislation the GOP can move through the House are bills to undo President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

DACA, which offers temporary deportation protection to DREAM Act-eligible immigrants brought into the country as minors, has been extremely popular and the King-led movement to abolish it created a strong backlash from Hispanic activist groups. So it’s no surprise that pro-DACA activists are making plans to turn King’s Iowa Freedom Summit into a confrontation over immigrant rights:

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/23/gaffes_a_la_king_steve_king_throws_a_party_for_immigration_activists_and_democratic_trackers/

[Cha]

1. Kick

[SamKnause]

2. In a sane world

all of these people would be in padded rooms.

[world wide wally]

3. I hope they are filming this for reruns in about a year and a half

[ChosenUnWisely]

4. Would not it be easier to just call it a Cross Burning and BBQ or Sat Night in a Red State

[mythology]

5. I don't think the listed people are capable of feeling embarrassment

I mean have you seen Donald Trump's hair?