Many of the Republicans who clamored for Texas Gov. Rick Perry to enter the presidential race are undergoing a change of heart after Perry declared his support for giving illegal immigrants tuition breaks and told his would-be supporters who oppose such breaks, “I don’t think you have a heart.”
Perry’s stance on reduced college tuition for children of illegal immigrants ignited a firestorm among conservatives last week and has become an albatross for the man who leads the Republican presidential field.
Perry’s chief opponent, Mitt Romney, faced similar conservative criticisms over healthcare reforms he initiated as governor of Massachusetts, but has largely brushed them off. It remains to be seen whether Perry will be able to put the immigration issue behind him.
“Romney has been a candidate for a lot longer so he’s had ample opportunity to answer questions about health care,” said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee spokesman. “Perry came in with such a splash that everything he says is going to get a lot of attention.”
Perry rocketed to the top of the polls in part because he was seen by conservatives as the viable alternative to Romney, who failed to excite GOP base. Now, Tea Party activists are moving away from Perry, saying his views on immigration are untenable.
“Look no candidate — other than Michele Bachmann — needs the Tea Party types as badly as Rick Perry,” said one GOP strategist. “He turned many of them off. He has time to win them back, but his immigration policy is certainly a deal-breaker for some.”
Perry counters that he is an experienced border-state governor who pushed the last two presidents to beef up border security, vetoed legislation allowing illegal immigrants to get driver licenses and demanded penalties for employers who knowingly hired illegal workers.
“Governor Perry has been strong and steadfast on securing the border and stopping criminal activity along the border,” Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan told The Washington Examiner. “Mitt Romney’s legacy is Obamacare, which is costing America jobs, confidence and economic opportunity.”
Perry’s immigration stance is similar to that of his predecessor in Texas, former President George W. Bush, and reflects the Lone Star State’s unique political environment. The tuition break for illegal immigrants, for instance, was broadly supported in the Texas capital.
On a national level, however, Perry is out of step with many in his party. The real test for him, analysts said, is whether he can assuage concerns of conservatives without going so far to the right that he alienates Hispanic voters in the race against Obama.
Republicans “have to be very careful if they want to go after Gov. Perry without alienating Latino voters,” said Alfonso Aguilar of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “They can’t just go back to the center in the general election. Whatever you say in the primary is going to come back to haunt you.”
The Obama campaign, meanwhile, is already hammering away at the GOP over immigration.
“The choice for Hispanic Americans is between a president who … fought to pass comprehensive immigration reform and the Dream Act,” said Obama campaign spokeswoman Gabriela Domenzain, “and a Republican field that universally opposes the Dream Act and a path to citizenship for immigrants.”
