Roy Beck: Gutierrez Presidential Run Would be a 'Nightmare' for Democrats

If Latino activists successfully recruit Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to run for president, it will be a “nightmare” for Democrats, according to Numbers USA executive director Roy Beck. 

“Gutierrez running in the primaries would seem to be a nightmare for Democrats in general. Most candidates for President in either party tend to wrap themselves in the cloak of nationalism, and refer to the United States in positive superlatives.  They all run on a pledge to help voters (as in U.S. citizens) to have more jobs and better wages,” something, Beck explained to Breitbart News, Gutierrez would not do.

“For all its strengths, the Democratic Party sometimes has trouble making the case for its patriotism. Gutierrez would either make that more difficult for other Democratic candidates or require them to publicly distance themselves from him, risking alienating the Hispanic vote,” he added. 

Tuesday Crain’s Chicago Business reported that while Latino activists are pushing for a draft Gutierrez for president effort, the pro-amnesty congressman says is “not running for president.” Crain’s reporter Greg Hinz, noted however that Gutierrez would not say if he would reconsider if President Obama fails to take executive action on immigration before the end of the year. 

According to Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a  Gutierrez presidential run would simply be a larger platform for him to push amnesty, something that would largely pay dividends with people who cannot legally vote.

“He really only has one proven loyalty, constituency and agenda; representing those who have no legal right to be in the U.S. by gutting the rule of law.  He may ‘win’ by a landslide with illegal aliens but there’s a wee problem; for the time being at least, they’re still prohibited from voting!” Dane explained.

He added that a run focused on amnesty would not curry favor with Hispanic-Americans who are in the United States legally as immigrants “who play by the rules are offended by those who reward those who break the rules.”

Meanwhile another anti-amnesty activist couldn’t comment because they were laughing too hard at the prospect of a Gutierrez presidential run. 

But a Capitol Hill aide emailed that Gutierrez’s stances are not that far outside of the mainstream Democratic Party.

“Regardless of whether Gutierrez runs, his views are the views of every single Senate Democrat and every single would-be Democrat hopeful,” the aide noted. “They all voted for or endorsed the Obama-Schumer bill, and every single one of them supports a policy of mass immigration.”