Oregon Republican Governor’s candidate, Ron Saxton, is heading toward the middle for the general election. Now, this always occurs in politics, however in this case I believe Saxton has set a land speed record for veering away from his more conservative leanings that we saw during the primary.
While shining a light on the state and federal responses to illegal immigration during the primary, Saxton simply can’t come to grips with what to do about people who come here to get a paycheck, have a kid, and suck at the government teat. The anchor baby issue is paramount in the discussion of illegal immigration. Saxton knows this but can’t be seen uttering a word against babies even IF their parents are stealing from the government (may I recommend once more my previous post on the anchor baby issue in the LA Times story?). We saw what happened to Saxton when, during a primary debate, Kevin Mannix got blue Oregon’s attention when he cooed about not wanting to get tough on children of illegals because it simply wasn’t nice. Saxton looked hard hearted because he hadn’t thought to say it first.
And now here we are on the spending limit being proffered by the Taxpayer’s Association of Oregon in conjunction with a national group. Saxton says he won’t back it. Really? The Oregonian, of course, thinks this is a decision of Solomonic proportions, but his stance makes no sense. He’s FOR cutting government spending and waste which Measure 48 does. He’s FOR a rainy day fund which Measure 48 creates. Seems to me he’d be better off tying himself to this politically popular plan than standing on the sidelines and looking like a political opportunist and capitulator.