Today was the first bloggers briefing of 2008 and to kick things off, Bruce Bartlett came by to plug his new book, Wrong on Race, which sets the record straight on the Democrats record on race relations. Jim Pinkerton told us about his new project, Fence by Date Certain, which is a pledge he wants all lawmakers to sign that will build a fence to secure the US border by a set date. We also got the scoop on the Supreme Court's upcoming decision on an Indiana photo ID law that will have wide-ranging implications for vote fraud in the US.

Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party’s Buried
Bruce Bartlett joined us to discuss his new book Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party’s Buried Past. He explained that there two major misconceptions that black voters have about the GOP regarding race. One is that the South is all racist, therefore since the South now votes Republican, Republicans are all racist. The second is that the GOP is held to a ridiculous double-standard. So when Trent Lott compliments Strum Thurmond, he’s pilloried in the media, but when Chris Dodd praises Robert Byrd, a former leader in the KKK, no one utters a peep.

Bartlett noted that the Republican message was appealing to the black voters. He gave the example of Tom Tancredo speaking to the NAACP in Detroit. He was the only Republican to show up for the NAACP’s debate and he,

Gave anti-immigrant rant, and got a standing ovation.

When asked how the Democrats nomination of Barack Obama would affect Republican efforts to reach out to black voters, Bartlett responded that while Barack would certainly pull a lot of support from the black community, his nomination would still be an enormous advantage for the GOP, because we’ll see new leadership take charge of the black community pushing aside the Jesse Jackson’s and Al Sharpton’s, who are extremely liberal.

Fence by Date Certain

Jim Pinkerton, Newsday columnist and Fox News contributor told us about his latest effort, the "Fence by Date Certain" pledge.

According to Pinkerton, the pledge is:

dedicated to one clear-cut goal: We want the US government to build a secure double fence across the US-Mexico border. And we want federal politicians to pledge to do so by a date certain.

Heritage’s Conn Carroll thought that the pledge was too focused on terrorism, and needed to talk more about economic issues.

Pinkerton agreed and stated that he had no qualms about other people/groups using or modifying the pledge, and actively encouraged people to do so.

Pinkerton also described a conversation he had with Mike Huckabee about illegal immigration, wherein Huckabee told him that the first question he always got at town hall meetings was on illegal immigration.

Pinkerton thought that politicians like Huckabee and Mitt Romney, are behind this issue, because:

When politicians see a winner, they tend to ride it.

Vote Fraud

Michael Thielen from the Republican National Lawyers Association came by to give us the run down on tomorrow’s Supreme Court Decision about an Indiana photo ID law.

Thielen noted that this issue is a top concern for Barack Obama. He‘s single-handedly blocking the White House’s nominees to the FEC over this issue, and the biggest bill he has in the Senate would put a major chill on poll watching.

Thielen explained that every year we lose elections because of vote fraud, and the same thing will happen this cycle; but the best way to prevent vote fraud is by having strong, enforced Voter ID laws on the books.

Rob Bluey wrote a great column for Townhall on the Voter ID issue as well, that you should check out.

In May I helped document the story of Raea Leinster, a licensed contractor based in Northern Virginia whose small business (painting) was being threatened by undocumented workers.

In case you missed it, you can watch it via YouTube: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

It appears another small group of filmmakers calling themselves 9500 Liberty is taking the next step. From their YouTube channel:

This channel is an "Interactive Documentary" about the politicization of the immigration issue, currently being shot in Northern Virginia. We will be posting new videos in quick intervals. And we will respond to viewer feedback, including requests for more coverage on certain storylines, contextual clarifications, and even perhaps on-site production excursions.

The aim of this documentary is to inform the public, and investigate alternatives to the intense polarization that is hindering progress on the immigration issue. Clips on this page will be shot and edited quickly by independent filmmakers--Eric Byler, Annabel Park, and Jeff Man--with additional production support from Tomiko Anders, Tom Moore, Harry Yoon and Zhibo Lai. Because one of the chief aims of this project is to elevate dialogue, comments that contain inflammatory words will not be posted. Please help us create a constructive, public forum.

Of particular note, Republican Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William County Supervisors and possible successor to Congressman Tom Davis (if Davis runs for VA-Sen), plays a starring role in helping curb the issue in NOVA:

Over at CoreyStewart.com, Corey and his team are making great use of the videos on his website and blog... Perhaps a model for local candidates throughout the nation on how they can make a difference with YouTube and an effective website platform.

[Disclosure: I'm proud that Corey Stewart is a DAG client.]

If you're unconvinced that illegal immigration is a serious problem in America, take a look at this four-part YouTube documentary which seeks to tell the story from that of a licensed contractor in Northern Virginia.

This is "Raea's Story":