New Hampshire may be a long way from the southern U.S. border, but Senate candidate Scott Brown is using the immigration crisis to take on President Obama and his Democratic opponent, Jeanne Shaheen, on the campaign trail.
The 60-second spot takes a hard line against amnesty and calls for stringent border security.
“Americans go through security before the go on a plane, enter a government building or attend a ballgame,” he says in the ad. “But folks who come here illegally, they just walk across the border — that’s wrong. Thanks to the pro-amnesty policies of President Obama and Jeanne Shaheen, tens of thousands of people have descended on the U.S.-Mexico border, creating a dangerous situation for themselves and overwhelming our capacity to respond.”
Congress and the Obama administration are trying to grapple with a tide of unaccompanied migrant children who are fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. The crisis has resulted in election-year recriminations and debate about which laws or policies are to blame for the trend.
Like other Republican candidates across the country, Mr. Brown is trying to paint Mrs. Shaheen as an ally of Mr. Obama as the president’s favorability ratings fall. The GOP is hoping to gain six Senate seats to gain control of the chamber after November’s mid-term elections.
But Mr. Brown, a former senator from Massachusetts, faces hurdles of his own, including his decision to switch his residency to New Hampshire so he could run in the first place.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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