The following press release came to me though the Minuteman Project, and I was a bit surprised by the content of the release, and the implications contained herein. Before I comment, here it is for reference.

Why did President George W. Bush wait until after the mid-term elections to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld? Why was there virtually no support from the White House for Republican candidates like Randy Graf and J.D. Hayworth in Arizona?

Most pundits agree that if Rumsfeld was to be replaced, it would have been much better for Republicans had the announcement been made before the elections. And with the razor-thin losses of key Republican candidates to supposedly “conservative” Democrats, it seems clear that a little more money or other support from the President or national GOP headquarters might have kept the House and Senate from turning over to Democrat control.

“Here you have conservative candidates and some incumbents who were solidly in favor of protecting our borders - a position with which the overwhelming American majority agrees,” commented Minuteman Founder Jim Gilchrist. “Bush has been unable to pass his amnesty program through the GOP-controlled Congress, but he won’t give up, so why wouldn’t he welcome a more compliant Democrat-led pro-illegal alien Congress, where he wouldn’t have effective opposition from his own party?”

Today’s speech by the President tends to confirm Gilchrist’s ruminations. When asked about the prospect of the Democrats cooperating with his amnesty proposals, Bush seemed almost delighted with the change of House leadership. Americans who question the open borders policies of this and previous administrations will have plenty to worry about in the coming months, if Gilchrist’s analysis proves accurate.

“This is a devastating blow to the security of the country,” said Gilchrist. “Every American is at greater risk than before the elections. Illegal aliens and terrorists are celebrating today, but our mission remains clear: we shall continue our surveillance and reporting operations in a continuing effort to inform and mobilize Americans to demand better border security.”

I respect and support the Minuteman Project, and feel their goal of secure boarders is the correct way to go. To distill down the core message of the press release, it is clear that the MMP is suggesting that President Bush “threw” the election in order to gain support for immigration reform proposals which include an Amnesty program – a program to which the MMP is opposed.

I am still a bit surprised that the MMP would be so direct, and I am sure that Bush sees the potential support for his Immigration reform agenda as a silver lining. However I cannot support the theory that Bush, with support from the national GOP, threw the election for any reason – even one as significant and close to his (and my) heart as immigration reform.

Although, that would go quite a distance to explain the smugness we still see on the face of Karl Rove…

But I digress. I would challenge the MMP to provide something more concrete than the list of assumptions they have thus far put forward. I would also suggest that the MMP pay a bit closer attention to which side their bread is buttered. It is the conservative base, who still mostly supports Bush, which provide the lions share of the funding.

I see the necessary link between a group like the MMP and politics. After all, the lobby is still king in Washington. However, having an active hand outside of the very limited scope to which the lobby has subscribed seems a bit reckless. Moreover there is nothing to be gained by MMP if this is true. Such is outside of their power, and a loss of focus as this critical stage could be very costly.

With that being said, I do agree that the MMP’s mission did just get significantly harder. The Democrats have specifically targeted Hispanic groups in efforts to gain minority votes. Moreover, where voter ID laws do not complicate things, they seemed unconcerned if these Hispanic groups where legal or not.

The MMP needs to keep their eye on the ball, so to speak. The road ahead promises to be long and grueling.