BUCK: October may be the single highest ever month on record for illegal crossings. As I understand it, there are still caravans making their way to the border. There are day-to-day crossings all along the border at various points. Remember when the weather is a little bit more favorable, it’s not the heat of summer, people tend to come over in larger numbers.
And as we thought, we have the single highest ever number. They’re saying, since 1986, and we could talk about why that number is so important as well, the year 1986. But really when you add it all in, especially when you include got-aways (and the number of visa overstays, if you want to include them in the illegal immigrant category), more illegal crossing this year than ever before at the southern border: 1.7 million in fiscal year 2021 alone under this Biden administration. You know, you said before, “In the midterms, the Democrats are heading for an annihilation” of sorts —
CLAY: I really think so.
BUCK: — at the ballot box similar to ’20, and I hate getting ahead of ourselves, right, ’cause it’s a long year between now and then. But, Clay, if this border situation continues and the Biden administration doesn’t stumble like a lottery winner into a much better economy (which, how the heck is that gonna happen?), I think that the border issue drags them down in a way that you could see a historic repudiation of the Democrat Party in the midterm elections largely driven by the fact that we have a lawlessness at our southern border that they can’t explain away.
CLAY: It’s bad. We talked about data earlier for independents and how they’re abandoning Joe Biden in record numbers. Joe Biden has bad numbers on virtually every issue — Foreign policy, now even covid (which was his calling card, got him elected), the economy, inflation, all of these things. All of those negative numbers pale in comparison to the border and let me just say this. James Carville got Bill Clinton elected in 1992. Do you remember what his basic message was, Buck?
BUCK: I think Ross Perot got Bill Clinton elected. (laughing)
BUCK: I know. Yeah, I know what you’re going to say.
CLAY: “It’s the economy, stupid,” right? “It’s the economy, stupid,” was what James Carville said. That is the linchpin on that got Bill Clinton elected in 1992. As you mentioned, Ross Perot running also helped Bill Clinton. Ross Perot running in ’92 and ’96 were both ultimately helpful. But! But! I remember this. My grandparents were big Ross Perot people back in ’92 down in Chattanooga.
But I will say this. Republicans should just run on “It’s the border, stupid.” I’m telling you. If you look at the data, it works for independents. It even works for Democrats. It works for white, black, Asian, even Hispanic people. Illegal immigration is the weakest of many weak issues for Joe Biden.
“It’s the border, stupid,” wins a landslide election. Now, you could piece it together with all the other failures, right, of the Biden administration — and I think those supplement it. But if you were looking at the calling card, the signature issue, the one that is going to motivate the most people, I really do believe, “It’s border, stupid,” is the guaranteed winner in 2022.
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