The Goldwater name carries weight in Arizona.
So, people who wouldn't care what a Don Smith has to say take note when Don Goldwater, nephew of the late and legendary Sen. Barry M. Goldwater Sr., rails against illegal immigration as a scourge on our state.
Now Barry M. Goldwater Jr., son of the icon, has reluctantly entered the fray, hoping to counter the "extreme hysteria" that he believes his cousin is creating.
Tuesday morning, the Phoenix resident and former congressman (a California representative from 1969 to 1983) planned to attend an immigration solutions forum at Arizona State University. But he gave notice of his public stance on Nov. 25 with a guest column in The Arizona Republic.
In it, Barry Goldwater Jr. called for tolerance, fairness and respect for people who have come here from other countries and enriched our state's culture and economy.
He described attending a recent rally for Legal Arizona Workers, a proposed 2008 ballot measure that would permanently rescind a company's business license the first time it hired an illegal immigrant.
"What I encountered . . . was shocking and egregious. Speeches soaked with hateful, angry racist tones and dialogue. Eyes closed, listening to the roar of inflammatory rhetoric and sermonizing, I could have easily mistaken myself to be at one of David Duke's Ku Klux Klan rallies in Baton Rouge, La.
" 'Deportation, deportation, deportation' " was the chant of the incensed crowd."
Goldwater said good leaders compromise and find reasonable solutions to society's issues. But, he wrote, on the polarized subject of illegal immigration, politicians on both sides of the aisle have become "unwilling to breach the middle ground."
He wrote that Don Goldwater and state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, architects of the Legal Arizona Workers initiative, "have tarnished the image of the Republican Party with the extreme hysteria and rhetoric they represent."
In a phone interview last week, Barry Goldwater Jr., 69, said he received no negative responses and about 30 e-mails in support of his column, including praise from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 2002 Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon and 1994 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eddie Basha.
Goldwater, a public and government affairs consultant, said he's been watching from the sidelines but couldn't believe the rhetoric at the Legal Arizona Workers fundraiser.
"There was a take-no-prisoners kind of attitude . . . I heard this vitriolic, insensitive kind of discussion going on. It just seemed too divisive," he said.
He shared the e-mail he sent to inform his cousin of The Arizona Republic column.
"You forget there are other Goldwaters in Arizona. Your actions are trampling on the free market and small businesses struggling to survive and are not what the Goldwater name stands for.
"The Goldwaters have built a reputation for compassion,
reason and liberty for all people. You are compromising the conservative cause.
Be prepared, Donnie, for honest political criticism."
Goldwater also shared Don Goldwater's e-mailed response:
"I am surprised that you have taken me on in public. The game is
on."
Don Goldwater, 52, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for governor in 2006, said in a phone interview that the column was wholly inaccurate and that big business is behind his cousin's public position.
He said he's faced accusations of racism for years and this is just more of the same from "people who do not have a leg to stand on."
"I've never once talked about racist issues when it comes to illegal immigration because illegal immigration has nothing to do with race," he said. "It's totally about the rule of law. I've always said the color of illegal immigration is green, in regard to money. Barry is supporting the employers. He believes in employer amnesty. And I don't."
Don Goldwater disputed his cousin's characterization of his position as a call for mass deportation. Not necessary, he said. Illegal immigrants will self-deport when the job market dries up, he said.
Barry Goldwater Jr. said the factions aren't that far apart on solutions to illegal immigration.
He said the United States should secure the border first; add flexibility to the worker visa program to bring in more outside labor as needed; and both urge and help Mexico to shore up its middle class.
"Employer sanctions are important, but I don't
think we need to put people out of business to get the message
across."
He said - despite his first bold foray into the stormy waters - that he's not sure if he'll take a high-profile role in the debate in 2008, which will be a tumultuous presidential election year.
"It's not something I'm looking forward to. But if I can help, I don't mind getting involved. I don't mind a good battle. I'm not bashful. But I don't want to add to the shrill."
I hope he does continue to speak out. Sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire.
Or, in this case, Goldwater with Goldwater.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.
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