Texas' Lt. Governor Hopefuls Need You To Know: No College for Illegal Immigrants

[TexasTowelie]

It tends to get overwhelmed by the reek of humiliating ineptitude that still wafts from Rick Perry's disastrous 2012 presidential campaign, but there was a moment when he took a principled stand and defended a position that was wildly at odds with the Tea Partiers he was trying so desperately to court.

It came on the issue of offering in-state tuition to young people who came to the country illegally. Here's how he explained it during a CNN/Tea Party debate in September 2011:

The bottom line is it doesn't make any difference what the sound of your last name is. That is the American way. No matter how you got into that state, from the standpoint of your parents brought you there or what have you. And that's what we've done in the state of Texas. And I'm proud that we are having those individuals be contributing members of our society rather than telling them, you go be on the government dole.

True, that position happens to line up nicely with the long-term interests of the Republican Party in Texas, and he pandered to the far right on almost every other issue, but it was admirable nonetheless.

The candidates to become Texas' next lieutenant governor do not share Perry's compassion for so-called DREAMers. The first to make this clear was state Senator Dan Patrick, who released an ad on Monday claiming to be the only one who didn't support in-state tuition for illegal immigrants:

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/10/texas_lt_governor_hopefuls_now.php .

[Gothmog]

1. Dan Patrick is a nut case

Patrick is a nut case but he may beat Dewhurst in the GOP primary. If the Democrats work at it, we may be able to win this race. In Texas, the Lt. Governor is actually more powerful than the Governor