Via Judd Legum at Think Progress, we learn what many of us thought, but hadn’t quite heard from anyone inside the Romney campaign — until now:
Ray Walser, a co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign for issues pertaining to Latin America, finally spilled the beans:
…Mr Walser, told The Daily Telegraph: “My anticipation is that he would probably rescind this directive were he to be elected in November.”
Mr Walser, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and veteran US diplomat, said such a decision would be in line with the “very tough” stance taken on illegal migration by Mr Romney so far.
After Walser’s comments to The Daily Telegraph, the reporter followed up with the Romney campaign. It refused to repond to his inquiry. But Walser got back in touch with the reporter and begged not to be quoted: “I’ve now had a little conversation with people from the campaign and they are concerned… They would really prefer that if you’re going to quote the Romney position, you get it from someone other than me.”
More from the Daily Telegraph.
However, “many conservatives” believe Mr Obama is “still lax” on the topic, and would want his non-deportation policy scrapped, said Mr Walser. Among “the conservative base” he said, “there is a reluctance to say ‘Oh, this is OK, we’re going to simply wipe the slate clean’.”
A Romney campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. However The Daily Telegraph’s email inquiry was forwarded to Mr Walser, who later contacted the newspaper to say that he had been asked to have his comments disassociated from Mr Romney.
And Greg Sargent of the Washington Post’s Plum Line:
Despite the frantic spin from Romney’s supporters, reporters have correctly pointed out that we simply don’t know from what Romney has said what he would do about Obama’s policy. Would Romney rescind it right away? Or would he leave it in place until he came up with a replacement? And if Romney and Congress failed to come up with that replacement — which is very possible, given recent history — would Romney leave it in place indefinitely? These are fair questions to be asking. The answers could impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
So the Romney campaign apparently didn’t want Walser talking about this issue, and it’s no wonder. The President’s move is very popular with voters, and it has increased enthusiasm for his reelection in key battleground states.
That Romney would want to rescind the President’s move isn’t really a surprise. He did, after all, vow to veto the DREAM Act. What’s surprising is that Walser admitted to it, even if he wasn’t supposed to.
As Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, said:
Is it any wonder that people are confused about where Mitt Romney stands on President Obama’s bold step to protect young people known as the DREAMers? Is it any wonder his own advisor believes that Romney would rescind it? The campaign is desperate to not say where Romney stands because doing so would either outrage the nativists in the GOP, or turn off Latino voters open to voting Republican. One thing we do know for sure: for Mitt Romney, this has been no profile in courage.
