The source for the story was a federal official, I assume that means the INS.
I’ve known a decent number of people in the same position as the aunt in question. They’ve exhausted their appeals and been ordered to leave. Instead they stay, not really hiding, keeping their same address and jobs, but not going out of their way to announce that they’re still around. The INS sends them a threatening letter every so often, but as long as they don’t draw attention to themselves (get arrested, for example), they can usually hang on in bureaucratic limbo for a long time. I doubt its any charity on the feds part that allows them to stay, but rather simply that they don’t have the resources to go drag every old woman out of the projects that doesn’t want to get deported.
20 months of one of the most solid campaigns in the last 100 years is not going to disappear because Obama has an Aunt who is illegally in the US. It’s a nice thought for some of McCain’s base, but undecideds not so much.
My guess is that if you look around ANYONE’s family long enough, you’ll find some relative who’s got a criminal record, is an alcoholic, cheated on taxes, said something racist once, or sells insurance. The “big deal” here is that it comes out so late, without giving the Obama camp time to respond. And the other “big deal” is that this is the kind of irrelevant mud-slinging that we’ve come to expect from the right-wing, and the Democrats tend to stay focused on issues (not 100% of course, but if you hear there’s mud-slinging going on, it’s from the right more often than not.)
I still have confidence in the guy. Hell, I’m driving 4+ hours to Indianapolis tomorrow to canvass for the guy. And Obama has handled stuff well in the past.
That said, dismissing this as nothing seems a bit Pollyanna. There isn’t really a good way to spin it, just a hope for solid damage control and that people aren’t put off by it. The best things I can think about it are in the “not soooo bad” realm: It came out on the weekend when fewer people are paying attention, it’s no one people have actually heard of before, there’s no evidence at the moment that Obama knew much of anything about her status, she’s a little old lady and that she’s Kenyan and not Hispanic. But all of those feel like whistling past the graveyard.
Talk to me in a few days when there’s some new polling numbers.
Criminal record - check - I actually have people linked to the Mafia in my family
Alcoholic - tons of them
Cheated on taxes - yep
Said something racists once - nah, my relatives have made racists and homophobic comments with frequency!
I might even have a relation who called 911 on his cell phone to complain about traffic. Or one charged with possession of drugs. Or one who went cross state joyriding with his underaged girlfriend. Or one who stole from charity. Or one who… we aren’t electing their relatives.
I bet these accusation come streaming in soon. Most likely though, they will be phrased thusly: President Obama may have taken illegal campaign contributions during his historic 20 month campaign. The Obama administration is looking into this matter …
If I ignore the fact that you appear to be downright cold-hearted with the above suggestion, are you not assuming that Obama knew what her legal situation with INS was, either via her lawyers or through some kind of investigation, and even if he knew, why would he interfere? Do you interfere in the legal problems of your extended family without being asked?
*You don’t know that he wants to, didn’t or doesn’t help her financially.
How much of her connection to Barack Obama do you really know about, other than what you have heard in the news? He has a vast extended family network(as do many folks with his parental background), but does that mean that he tracks em all?*
It changed after 9/11, when the immigration service was made a part of Homeland Security. I can personally attest to how much fun that was - my husband’s residency interview was held the week after 9/11/01. We eventually moved to Australia and filed his residency paperwork there, after waiting over five years to be processed here. Anyway, it’s now referred to as the USCIS.
Meh. Wreaks of desperation. It’s certainly a non issue. His half aunt applied for asylum, got rejected, and they just haven’t bothered to kick her out yet. It’s not like she’s in hiding.
The only people who would actually care, or who would not bother to find out more than what they would assume from the fox news headline, are already voting for McCain, or were already turned off by the other supposedly nefarious associations Obama has.
And even if you didn’t read the story and thought his aunt had stowed away on a cargo ship and was hiding in crates and running from the CIS, you really expect him to make a call to CIS and turn her in? It’s his aunt, not a nanny for hire.
As far as the campaign contributions, I would think it’s the responsibility of the donor and not the donee to be aware of their citizenship requirements, at least for small donations.
Damn that McCain! How dare he stick Obama’s beloved aunt in a housing project!
If it was McCain, they would have brought it out much earlier, so it had time to get out there to the undecideds to whom it might matter. As it is, it’s not nothing, but it’s not a lot. People who see Obama as just another politician, but who nevertheless support him for policy reasons will still do so. People who buy the “noble messiah” bullshit are impervious to any contrary data.