Immigration and Marco Rubio: GOP Attack Ad Paints Rubio's Senate Immigration Bill as 'Amnesty'
The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a new advertisement targeting a Democratic Georgia senate candidate, but it may have paired Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, with an "amnesty" immigration bill.
The main premise for the attack ad was to show Democrat Michelle Nunn as a stern supporter of President Barack Obama, his policies and the immigration bill passed in the Senate in June 2013. The ad accuses Nunn of supporting "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants.
"Michelle Nunn proudly supports Obama's amnesty plan for illegal immigrants," noted the 30-second NRSC advertisement, which cites an Aug. 21 Politico report of a debate between Nunn and incumbent Sen. David Perdue, R-GA.
The Politico report acknowledged Nunn's support of the Senate bill, which had the support of the "conservative" Rubio and "liberal" Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY. Nunn also criticized Perdue of misinterpreting her stance on amnesty. The NRSC ad had linked her support for the Senate bill, "S.744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act," which was supported by Rubio and 13 other Senate Republicans. Despite the RNSC ad, the Senate bill does not mention "amnesty." According to the Washington Post, Nunn said she opposes the idea of presidential executive action on immigration.
S.744 has seven cosponsors, including four Republicans -- Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-AZ, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, and Rubio. The four co-authors of the immigration legislation also voted for the bill's passage. In the end, 68 senators voted in favor, and 32 voted against.
"If the National Republican Senatorial Committee wanted to condemn a Democratic bill, that would at least make sense in the abstract. But the immigration reform package the NRSC is now attacking was written by four senators the NRSC supports," wrote Steve Benen for MSNBC. "Indeed, about a third of the Senate Republican caucus threw its support behind the legislation."
Following the Senate bill's passage, McCain commented on Republican campaign operatives, notably the NRSC, using efforts to reform the immigration system against fellow Republicans.
"Well, all I can say is maybe they ought to look back at what happened in 2012 and 2008 with the Hispanic voter, and then maybe they ought to re-evaluate what they are saying," said McCain in regards to an NRSC statement about S.744 in June 2013.
Rubio's Senate website notes the number of people that could get amnesty because of the Senate bill.
"Zero. No one gets amnesty," Rubio's website stated.
Although Rubio cosponsored the bipartisan Senate immigration bill, Rubio has criticized the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated by Obama, which allowed over 500,000 undocumented immigrant youths to stay in the U.S. for educational and work purposes. Rubio claimed DACA led to the recent influx of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S.
According to SurveyUSA, Perdue has a 3-point advantage over Nunn. Perdue leads with 47 percent to Nunn's 44 percent. Perdue also led polls among millennials ages 18 to 34 with 47 percent to 43 percent. Latinos also favored the Republican incumbent with 49 percent while Nunn received 45 percent.
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