Gardner did several things right. First, he showed up. Second, he treated everyone with respect, beginning with “I would be honored to earn your support and your vote.” Third, he spoke with good humor and a positive demeanor, compared to the anger and frustration of DeGette and Bennet. Fourth, he handled the immigration issue on his own terms, not the terms set by Democrats. And fifth, he spent the bulk of his time on economic issues, on questions of income and jobs that are the top concerns of Hispanic voters, as they are with all other voters in Colorado.
On immigration, Gardner expressed support for the series of step-by-step measures favored by many House Republicans. He said that focusing only on border security, as some GOP voters want, is not enough to fix the nation’s immigration problem. “Border security is not complete without things like guest worker programs,” Gardner said. He also advocated an improved visa system. Overall, the measures Gardner supports add up to something that can legitimately be called “immigration reform” — just not the specific measure, the Gang of Eight, that Democrats want to make the single standard of reform.
But immigration wasn’t a big part of what Gardner had to say, and he soon moved on to economic topics.
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