Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said over the weekend he won't get involved in the fight on the Protect Arizona Now initiative to deny illegal aliens some social services in this state, although last year he called it "both heartless and divisive." Speaking to reporters from Arizona newspapers on his campaign train Sunday night, Mr. Kerry said states should be allowed to make such decisions. "It's up to states to decide what the states want to do with respect to their own expenditures," Mr. Kerry said, according to the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff. | Gee, John, why the change? |
Polls show the initiative, which would deny state and local social services to illegal immigrants and require proof of U.S. citizenship before voting, has the support of nearly three-fourths of Arizona voters. But Mr. Kerry has argued against the initiative. Last August, he wrote a letter to the Tucson Citizen, signed as a U.S. senator and candidate for president, blasting the initiative. He said it resembled California's Proposition 187, which also sought to deny benefits to illegal immigrants, and which Mr. Kerry said was pushed by "forces of hate and discrimination." | Being a initiative, those forces would be voters, would they not? |
Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade denied the two positions are inconsistent. He said Mr. Kerry opposes the initiative, but doesn't think the president should interfere with states' rights on the matter. | Yeah, and I've still got that bridge for sale. |
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