RNC official says Romney 'still deciding' immigration position
Washington (CNN) – A stumble by a Republican National Committee official over Mitt Romney's position on immigration Tuesday may be a first hiccup as the presumptive GOP nominee's campaign and the committee work to sync up operations.
"To my understanding he is still deciding what his position on immigration is," RNC National Hispanic Outreach Director Bettina Inclan told reporters Tuesday morning at what was supposed to be the unveiling of the RNC's new six-state Hispanic outreach program.
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RNC press secretary Kirsten Kukowski pushed back minutes later, saying she had seen the comments misconstrued on Twitter.
"We never said that the governor is still deciding on immigration," she said.
"We are in the middle of a transition," she continued, adding that the RNC was focused primarily on outreach programs, while the candidate's campaign would be focused on policy.
Tuesday afternoon, Inclan tweeted, "I misspoke, Romney's position on immigration is clear."
Inclan said earlier that the RNC supports "Republican policies."
The reelection campaign of President Barack Obama pounced, emailing reporters a statement which also disputed that Romney's immigration is undecided but that stipulating that they believe it is wrong.
"Over the past year Mitt Romney has proven time and time again that he is the most extreme presidential candidate in modern history on immigration," the campaign's director of Hispanic press, Gabriela Domenzain, said. "His position may be inconvenient, but it has been clear. He has promised to veto the DREAM Act, thinks all undocumented immigrants should self-deport, has called the anti-immigrant AZ law a 'model' for the nation and has paraded around the country with the nation's leading anti-immigrant voices. Mitt Romney has decided to be the most extreme presidential candidate on immigration; Hispanics and all Americans have heard it loud and clear."
Inclan had criticism of Obama's immigration stance, saying his record did not match his rhetoric.
"He talks about uniting families, and all he's done is deport more immigrants than any [other] American president," she said.
But issue number one - for all voters, including Hispanics - will be "jobs and the economy," she said.
"Most Hispanics were born here in this country. To assume that the only thing we care about is immigration is almost insulting," she continued.
Last month the RNC announced 6 state-level Hispanic outreach directors in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.
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Tea Party and you die hard Republicans you are getting PUNKED by Romney again. Romney used y'all to get the nomination and now he's for the DREAM ACt.
Hacimo,
Have you read the posts from rla and Scott? They cannot write English. According to you, that makes them fools.
I had to hold back the vomit as I looked at her distorted and repulsive face, a clear reflection of her views of the world.
Roney will be on the fence on the immigration question until he finds a position that wins Latino votes for the Republican Party
About the same day that Satan opens an ice skatoing rink.
Obama makes me sick. One lie after another. I've never seen anyone enjoy lying the way he does. He has never had to make a serious decision in his entire life and why would anyone expect someone in their 50's to suddenly be able to do so now? To let this liar anywhere near the White House would be a grave mistake and the American people better wake up to that fact before November.
@anders brevik... who the heck are you talking about. The picture on this article is of mitt romney with his usual smug look he gets after lying about the President's record and the hand picked republican crowd going crazy on cue...
Is Romney running from Marco Rubio, I would.
@ed
Majority of illegals don't file tax returns. They get used most of the time because they cannot go for better jobs or pays.
Let me get this straight. He hasn't formed an opinion (where are the koch bros, norquist and the rest when you need them) but she knows what is he thinking.
Even he, like the puppet he is, doesn't know what he thinks from minute to minute. If most Hispanics were born in this country that would make them Americans of Hispanic descent, right?
The sociobishop should know. Why isn't he embracing his Mexican roots? Could it be that the right wing zealots would.jump ship faster than they can say flip flopper? That's the difference between teapublikans and Democrats. We care about what the person brings to the table and the country to help NOT what his family history is (I.e., President Obama).