Pence plan betrays supporters of enforcement-first

August 29, 2006

Mike Pence supports tax cuts and the war in Iraq, opposes stem cell research and the Medicare drug plan. He is a master of talk radio. Jesus Christ is his personal savior and Ronald Reagan is his political idol.

Indiana Republican Mike Pence had led people to describe him as ‘the perfect conservative,’ one who in just three terms has turned 100 House allies into a vanguard and himself into one of his party’s rising stars.

That seemed to be the case until this spring when he proposed a compromise in the immigration debate. His plan is complicated, but would address border security concerns and send illegal immigrants home. It would also let most of them quickly return. Since them, many conservatives see him as this year’s Benedict Arnold. They say he has lent his conservative prestige to a form of liberal amnesty.

Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum called the Pence plan “a sick joke.” Richard A. Viguerie, the direct-mail pioneer, threatened to punish politicians who supported it. Pat Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative, likened the betrayal to a scene from “The Godfather.”

Pence bills himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” and pushed his plan on a recent trip across his district. He quoted the Bible. He quoted Ronald Reagan. He stood sweating in a tomato field beside Mexican workers. When asked why an Indiana congressman was focused on the border, he responded with a ready phrase: “April 11, 1923.”

That is when his Irish grandfather, a Chicago bus driver, arrived on Ellis Island. Pence said he sees his grandfather’s thrift and hard work in today’s immigrant generation.

Two years out of law school, Pence made his first Congressional run in 1988 and lost narrowly to a longtime Democratic incumbent, Phil Sharp. He tried again two years later, in a negative campaign that won him just 42 percent of the vote.

The seat opened up again in 2000 and Pence squeaked in.

Among those won over was Paul Weyrich, a fixture of movement conservatism. He said Pence had strong appeal among supporters of four major conservative causes: limited government, free enterprise, strong defense and traditional values. “Nobody is perfect, but he comes pretty close,” Weyrich said. “He is what I’ve been waiting for in terms of leadership.”

In 2005, Pence became head of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus. He quickly expanded its profile, and, rivals note, his own. Unlike many conservatives, Pence courts the news media.

Barry Welsh, a Democrat challenging Pence this fall, is a Methodist minister who said, “I find it hypocritical that he claims such Christianity” while “cutting the benefits of those who need them.”

When Pence weighed in on immigration this spring, the issue, like much of the Republican agenda, was stalled and Republicans were deeply split. The House had passed a tough bill focusing on border security alone. The Senate had passed a broader measure that included a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here.

Pence tried to offer something to everyone. He included provisions to bolster the borders. After two years, if the government certified that those changes were in place, a guest worker program would begin. Those here unlawfully would have to leave the country and apply at job-placement centers. The guest worker visas could be renewed, with a chance of

Team America, a conservative political action committee, now has a feature on its Web site called “Pence Watch.” Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, said the plan would encourage more illegal immigration and undermine cultural cohesion.

Does Pence worry his conservative image has been tarnished?

“I’m not completely immune to that thought,”Pence said, en route to a photo op in an Orestes, Ind., tomato field.