Like other tea party candidates across the country who have run in this cycle’s Senate GOP primaries, Joe Miller has focused on taking a hard line on immigration, particularly in the final days leading up to the primary. Here’s an image from a recent mailer sent by his campaign:
Like those other tea party Senate candidates, who, it should be noted, have all lost their races, Miller has repeatedly said that he doesn’t support any sort of amnesty. On Friday, he released a video of his campaign staff dropping off a “No Amnesty” pledge to Dan Sullivan’s and Mead Treadwell’s office, set to what sounds like rapping chipmunks. Here it is:
Sullivan’s campaign declined to comment on whether or not he would sign the pledge. Sullivan has been safely vague on the issue, saying only that the country needs to secure its borders, and that he thinks that the thousands of immigrant children currently on the Southern border should be send back to where they came from.
This is one of the few issues where Treadwell has not tried to out-tea-party Miller. His campaign said that he wouldn’t sign the pledge and Treadwell sent the following statement:
If Joe decides to play the pledge game, he should first commit to support the winner of the Republican Senate Primary in the fall election. I would also hope that he would sign the Federal Taxpayer Protection Pledge as I have. I do not support amnesty. I do support a legal pathway for those who pay their penalties and get in line behind the many people who have come here legally and who are currently waiting to have their applications considered. Joe’s pledge says what he won’t do. It doesn’t say what he will do.
I asked Miller’s campaign what he would do with the children on the border, and with the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. As of Saturday night, I haven’t gotten a response.
Recent polls have shown Miller far behind both Sullivan and Treadwell. Immigration hasn’t been a big issue in Alaska, and it’s unclear how much all of this will move primary voters here, just like it’s failed to do elsewhere. However, just the fact that Miller sent out a mailer and appears to be focused on closing messages might get him some traction.
“Joe Miller is making his move,” political consultant Marc Hellenthal said. “It’s going to play among the crowd, and it might take some points from Treadwell. But it won’t do much. This is a Fox News issue, it’s not an Alaskan issue,” he said.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
I disagree, Amanda, with your statement that immigration has failed to move primary voters elsewhere. David Brat beat Eric Cantor, one of the most powerful men in the House, based primarily on this issue — and with a shoestring budget no less. Treadwell clearly is spinning what amnesty is. He knows he supports amnesty and he knows a pathway to citizenship for illegals IS amnesty but he doesn’t want to put that label on it because it angers so many Americans, as it should. It should equally anger the legal immigrants who obey the law and are pushed to the side with this Dreamer act that liberals concocted that rewards lawbreakers.
If Brat can beat Cantor — which no one saw coming — Joe can win this primary. I have heard a lot of people say they really love Miller, but don’t think he can win the primary so they’re settling for a second choice. This is tragic because Miller does represent the values of true conservatives and the issues dearest to us.
Job Killer Miller has paranoid issues.
Maybe he should stick to developing phoney polls and the subsequent phoney poll’s results.
Dude cracks me up.
Perhaps Mr. Treadwell missed this press release back on July 30th although I highly doubt it. Joe Miller is the only candidate who has announced a plan on what he will do to fix the problem. http://joeforliberty.com/2014/07/seven-step-plan-to-address-borderillegal-alien-crisis/
It is not a commercial. It is and announcement and fun video to expose where the other candidates stand and how they have been silent on the number issue in America.
I don’t get this comment. This is not a commercial, it is a mailer with a message. Joe is the only candidate who announced a plan to solve the border / illegal entry issue.
Both Dan and Mead favor amnesty and are against voter ID which are both very liberal positions that the electorate at large strongly disagrees with. Apparently, Mead doesn’t even know what amnesty is (a pathway to citizenship for people who have entered illegally). People can see through the smoke and mirrors.
Joe is the only one who can win because he is the only one who can articulate conservatism and who has a real contrast on the issues with Begich. The only talking point that the establishment is using against Joe is that he can’t win based off of 2010 which was a totally different race where a weak Democrat candidate and the Republican establishment helped Democrats to vote for Murkowski. This time the establishment will have to get behind he nominee if the want to remove Begich and that nominee will be Joe Miller.
Not show the electorate – Snow the electorate. Treadwell is the type of slimy politician who says one thing to get your vote and then does the complete opposite.
Someone needs to inform Mr. Treadwell that a pathway to citizenship is amnesty. And, that Joe Miller has signed numerous pledges on tax reform. And, that Joe Miller is the only candidate who announced a plan to solve the border / illegal entry crisis. Mr. Treadwell is just another liberal pretending to be like Joe to show the electorate. He had a long liberal record on nearly every issue conservatives care about.
Very recently, at a function held for one of the other two candidates (with that candidate present) three different people said to me that while they support Afghan Dan they sure think Joe Miller best expresses their view on where America is today fiscally and with respect to the Middle East, illegals, etc. No one believes Joe could possibly win in November but they like what he says and how he says it. I think many Alaska Republicans see the race in that way.
Why? I thought his last commercial was a great way to end this cycle. It was warm, engaging and the sound quality was professional. This one was disjointed. Amanda, you hit the nail on its head about the rapping chipmunk music. What was with the “my first iMovie production” angled dissolve and the awful sound quality? Was this intentionally made rough to feel “real” or simply the last of the marketing budget? I think this ranks #2 of my favorite political commercials; #1 going to the awesomeness that was Dubey’s homage to political opera.