Jim Gilchrist and the Minutemen endorse Huckabee - (PV)

[PackerfanXD]

Dear MinuteMen and Women,

We have long struggled together to encourage those in power in the Federal government to follow the rule of law and secure our borders and enforce U.S. immigration laws. We have had great success in bringing this issue directly to the American public in the absence of leadership by our political governors in Washington, DC.

Now, as the Presidential Election of 2008 draws near we have a unique opportunity to raise our collective voices at those candidates who wish to lead America for the next four years.

We cannot just stand by and allow any candidate who wants to lead our country to not make a stand in defense of our sovereignty.

That is why for the last several months I have been actively seeking more information about the history, record, and future plans of all the major candidates for President of the United States.

It is important to speak honestly about who has the best possibility of being elected to the White House and, of those possibilities, which one will serve the goals and objectives of Minutemen everywhere.

I understand that by personally immersing myself in the presidential political debate I will upset some of you in the Minuteman movement. That is an expected consequence of being involved in political activism and I am prepared for that consequence.

However, I cannot allow personal preferences, whether it is my own or that of my fellow allies in the battle to defend the borders of our country, to disallow what in all fairness is “political reality”.

Many of you remember when I ran for Congress in 2005 as a third-party candidate. We had a great team and fabulous supporters from all over the country. Many so-called political professionals said we had "no chance to even make an impact" in that Congressional race. But, we garnered the highest percentage for a third-party candidate in a congressional race in 40 years. I am proud of what we all have achieved together.

I have learned much about politics since establishing that political bench mark.

Right now the issue of illegal immigration and border security is foremost in the minds of voters in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. In fact, because of the efforts of Minutemen everywhere, it is the major issue in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Like you, I am thrilled that, finally, all of our politicians are forced to address the issue of our nation's chaotic neglect of U.S. immigration laws in every debate, town hall meeting, and personal appearance he or she makes.

And, like you patriots, I want more than just talk. I want a president who will act. I want a president with a “plan”, and a willingness to accept the challenge of effectively addressing the most unprecedented invasion of the United States in its 231-year history.

There have been very few voices in Washington DC who have echoed our call to secure the borders and enforce our immigration laws. One of those lone voices, and a great leader for America as well, is Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. Congressman Tancredo is a personal hero of mine who gave me the inspiration to create the Minuteman Project over three years ago.

And Duncan Hunter, Congressman from California, actually wrote the bill to get the fence built on the border between the San Diego, California and Mexico.

Both of these men have been more instrumental in moving the debate of border security and illegal immigration to where it is today than any one else. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter are the quintessential political pioneers in the quest to maintain a respectable and responsible immigration system.

But as we go forward in our movement with a national stage to implement a new policy with new leaders, we have to recognize that the American people have decided there are only three viable candidates for a Republican Party presidential nominee: former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The Democrats will place either Hillary Clinton or Barrack Obama into position for the presidential race.

You have a choice: either stand with me on this mission to restore our nation to governance by the people, or scatter in mutual acrimony and resign yourselves to the fact that pro-amnesty Hillary Clinton or pro-sanctuary city Rudy Giuliani will very likely be the next president of the United States.

My recent decision was made to prevent just that from happening.

Americans, I have never made a promise I never intended to keep, and I have never lied about my intentions to devote my all to bringing America back under the rule of law insofar as our immigration laws are concerned.

My endorsement of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was not decided over night. It was six weeks in the making.

Governor Huckabee came to me…solicited me for help. Although I personally sent every candidate for president a certified, registered, return receipt query about his or her position on the immigration chaos, only Governor Huckabee bothered to reply.

Not only did Governor Huckabee solicit input from minutemen, he also published on his web site (www.mikehuckabee.com) a written “plan” on how he will address the more salient issues of illegal immigration. When I read his published statements of position on the issue, it seemed as if I had written the “plan” myself. It is tough. It is demanding. And it leads America back to its heritage as “a nation governed by the rule of law”.

Our Founding Fathers envisioned a nation of “representative government”, a nation in which the electorate was actively involved in designing and implementing policy and principle. When Governor Huckabee invited the founder of the Minuteman Project to participate in his campaign, it became undeniably clear that he was virtually asking for the input of 250 million Americans…the estimated number of Americans who support the intent of the minuteman movement.

Now, fasten your seat belts and get ready for one wild ride through the 2008 presidential election cycle.

Cheers,

Jim Gilchrist, BAJ, BSBA, MBA, CPA - Founder and President

[longtalltechsan]

Given Huckabee's record as governor I am somewhat surprised at this endorsement.

[DanTheEldest]

Originally Posted by longtalltechsan

Given Huckabee's record as governor I am somewhat surprised at this endorsement.

You are not alone in that regard.

[PackerfanXD]

Originally Posted by longtalltechsan

Given Huckabee's record as governor I am somewhat surprised at this endorsement.

Indeed. I gathered that he likes Hunter and Tancredo better but Huckabee has a better shot. I am of the same opinion.

Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter are the quintessential political pioneers in the quest to maintain a respectable and responsible immigration system.

But as we go forward in our movement with a national stage to implement a new policy with new leaders, we have to recognize that the American people have decided there are only three viable candidates for a Republican Party presidential nominee: former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

[Frenchy]

WOW!...Didn't see that coming. Looks like Gilchrist is compromising his values too me.

[Spatch66]

This guy must have been enthralled by the fact that Huckabee wrote back and no one else did. That said, I can't vote for a guy who argued in favor of instate tuition and scholarships for illegal aliens and raised taxes as much as Huck did. I just don't trust this guy and we do not need anymore presidents from Arkansas.

[Etta Place]

It's too early to endorse anyone. What about Ron Paul? He didn't even mention him.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

It's too early to endorse anyone. What about Ron Paul? He didn't even mention him.

Tell Oprah that!

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Spatch66

This guy must have been enthralled by the fact that Huckabee wrote back and no one else did. That said, I can't vote for a guy who argued in favor of instate tuition and scholarships for illegal aliens and raised taxes as much as Huck did. I just don't trust this guy and we do not need anymore presidents from Arkansas.

I'm with you.

Arkansas tax burden increased 47% over Huckabee’s tenure. Huckabee supported (in chronological order) a sales tax hike; gas and diesel fuel tax hikes; another sales tax hike; a cigarette tax hike; a nursing home bed tax; another sales tax hike; an income surcharge tax; a tobacco tax hike; taxes on Internet access; and higher beer taxes. Huckabee also oversaw a 50-percent increase in spending; happily signed a minimum wage increase and encouraged national Republicans to do the same; favors a national smoking ban, farm subsidies, and a federally mandated arts and music curriculum; opposes private school choice; and employs class-warfare and protectionist language on the campaign trail. Huckabee calls himself an economic conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan, but the above list doesn’t sound like either.
Read more here.

Can you say Democrat in Republican clothing.

[niteranger68]

From Chris Simcox, President of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

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No National Minuteman Group has endorsed Mike Huckabee.

One individual Minuteman has personally endorsed him.

For the sake of clarity, it is important to note that the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), the nation's largest Minuteman organization, is a 501(C)4 non-profit organization and cannot and does not endorse any candidate for public office. MCDC is not associated with Mr. Jim Gilchrist, who today endorsed Mike Huckabee for president.

Jim Gilchrist’s erstwhile Minuteman Project is itself an organization which by its own representations as a non-profit civic group cannot legally endorse candidates. It does not have any volunteers who observe illegal border activity. It has no border fence building projects. Jim Gilchrist here speaks only for Jim Gilchrist, he does not speak for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, nor is he nationally representative of most patriots in the "Minuteman movement" – who under no circumstances could ignore the failed record nor endorse the duplicitous “plan” recently rolled out by candidate Mike Huckabee. The national media needs to recognize that Jim Gilchrist’s endorsement is his own personal statement, nothing more.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps emphasizes policy dealing with national border security. The only "plan" to ensure border security that is acceptable to our constituency would be a candidate policy statement declaring that his first act as President will be to hold a press conference and announce to the American people an executive order to immediately deploy and fund 30,000 National Guard personnel to the U.S. Borders (25,000 to the southern border and 5,000 to the northern border) to complement a massive increase in U.S. Border Patrol Agent field personnel, and a bilateral effort to secure our frontiers, smash the drug cartels, shut down the human smugglers and protect the public safety of the citizens who reside along the borders on both sides of our national boundaries.

Unlike this last-minute opportunism attempted by Huckabee, many of the other GOP presidential candidates have actually helped push the issue of national border security forward for some time. Tom Tancredo’s many years of hard work on the border crisis and illegal immigration issues have all the candidates striving to sound like him. Duncan Hunter can take personal credit for getting the highly effective San Diego border fence built. Ron Paul has been to the border with us first hand and aggressively pushed positive border legislation. Alan Keyes has done more than anyone to support the organizational development of MCDC, and personally participated in the Minuteman Border Fence Groundbreaking – advancing a citizen’s construction effort which has forced Congress to finally get the Feds building physical border fence.

Only one Minuteman group is conducting regular multi-state border security efforts, building fence and aggressively monitoring Washington DC: Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. We would like to extend an invitation to all the presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat, to come to the border and see what is really happening on our nation’s frontier. Not to take the safe little government photo-op helicopter ride, but see the lay-up sites full of trash and debris. See the rape trees. See the violent crime in the border towns. Walk on the pathways of destroyed environmental terrain trampled by tens of thousands of invading foreign migrants. See what the American elites’ support of broken borders, unfettered illegal immigration and sanctuary cities is doing to our fellow Americans who live on our borderlands, and how these failed policies imperil our nation’s safety, security and prosperity.