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Gavin Newsom has a scant history of tough debates over his two decades as governor and lieutenant governor of California and mayor of San Francisco.

But he is nevertheless unusually prepared for his nationally televised face-off on Thursday with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida: Over the past few months, Mr. Newsom has lived through something of a debate boot camp on how to respond to attacks on California, President Biden, the Democratic Party and his own mistakes over the years.

It came in the form of two lively interviews with Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News host who will moderate the debate on Thursday. From the moment they sat down, he pressed Mr. Newsom on the differences between them on issues as varied as immigration and law enforcement.

I want border security, Mr. Newsom said, disputing the premise of Mr. Hannitys question in the opening minutes of their first encounter. Democrats want border security.

You dont want any walls, Mr. Hannity responded, referring to the wall former President Donald J. Trump set out to build along the Mexican border. Mr. Newsom kept talking.

I want comprehensive immigration reform, Mr. Newsom said. I want to actually address the issue more comprehensively just like Ronald Reagan did. He added, I dont need to be educated on the issue of the border or issues of immigration policy.

On Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern, Mr. Newsom will be sparring on Fox News not with Mr. Hannity but with Mr. DeSantis for 90 minutes in a studio in Alpharetta, Ga., with no audience on hand. The stakes will be high for both Mr. DeSantis, 45, whose candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination has appeared to fade in recent weeks, and Mr. Newsom, 56, who has positioned himself for a potential White House run in 2028.

The debate between these two relatively youthful national leaders, one from a Republican state, the other from a Democratic one, will offer sharply contrasting views of Americas future during polarized times. Not incidentally, it offers a glimpse at what could potentially be two leading candidates in the next presidential contest.

These are two of the most dominant governors in the country, Mr. Hannity said in an interview on Monday. Two very smart, well-educated, highly opinionated, philosophically different governors. They are diametrically opposed.

For Mr. DeSantis, this will be his fourth debate since entering the presidential race. In onstage meetings with Republican opponents like Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, he has sought to display a command of conservative policy priorities and has clashed with his rivals only occasionally, and on the edges.

Now, he will be debating a leader of the opposing party, ready to draw sharp differences over U.S. assistance to help Ukraine battle Russia, the turmoil in the Middle East, immigration and over Mr. Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination.

Mr. DeSantis has dismissed the idea that Mr. Newsom has toughened himself up for this debate through his sessions with Mr. Hannity. The Florida governor told reporters in New Hampshire last week that his California counterpart was operating in a left-wing cocoon, and had little sense of voters concerns and the politics of the nation beyond the West Coast.

I think he caters to a very far-left slice of the electorate, Mr. DeSantis said. I think that that will be on display when we have the debate.

Still, that Newsom-Hannity encounter in June, as well as an encore after the Republican presidential candidates debated at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in September, offer a primer of how Mr. Newsom may approach this moment: assertive, engaging, armed with statistics and catchy phrases, plowing ahead to talk over an opponent or disparage a question he finds specious, and not easy to corner into a mistake.

He came into that interview very prepared, Mr. Hannity told a New York Times reporter in September. Ive interviewed people that come in totally unprepared.

This is complimentary in every way: Hes out of central casting, Mr. Hannity said, speaking shortly after finishing his appearance with Mr. Newsom. He has a lovely family. Hes young. Compare his energy level to Joe Bidens.

He will defend California against attacks from Republicans, Mr. DeSantis among them, as a place in moral, economic or political decline: Ive been hearing this nonsense for half a century literally half a century.

He will be contrite if asked about homelessness (Disgraceful. We own this.) or about his unmasked dinner with lobbyists at the French Laundry, a luxury Yountville restaurant, at the height of the Covid crisis. (It was dumb.)

And he might even agree with some attacks on Democratic policy in his state, such as the new mansion tax on property sales above $5 million recently imposed in Los Angeles. I opposed it when I was mayor of San Francisco, so I dont disagree, Mr. Newsom said when Mr. Hannity questioned the wisdom of such a tax.

Mr. DeSantis is not Mr. Hannity, with whom Mr. Newsom has what both men have described as a something of a friendship, albeit a jostling one. (They text each other at night.) Mr. DeSantis has, over the course of the Republican debates, proved to be disciplined, at times almost scripted, and more likely to offer a flash of anger than humor.

Mr. Newsom has had his ups and downs with California voters, and it is far from clear how a politician who looks like a Hollywood actor and often seems to be walking the line between sharp and glib or self-assured and arrogant will come across to a national audience.

But he has proved an elusive target for his states beleaguered Republican Party. He easily survived a recall effort in 2021, with support from 62 percent of voters, and was re-elected to a second term with 59 percent of the vote in 2022.

I think Gavin Newsom is going to be the smooth-talking used-car salesman that he always is, said Jessica Millan Patterson, the chairwoman of the California Republican Party, suggesting what Mr. DeSantis should expect. Unfortunately, a lot of people still fall for that.

The facts are on DeSantiss side, she said. What helps Newsom is his charm and his quote-unquote likability. It doesnt work for me, but it works for a lot of folks.

Mr. DeSantiss agreement to debate someone who will not be on the Iowa ballot in January has baffled some Democrats as well as Republicans. We were all frankly surprised he took the offer, said Sean Clegg, a political adviser to Mr. Newsom.

That said, the debate gives Mr. DeSantis an opportunity to draw attention to his candidacy at a time when Mr. Trump has overshadowed him and Ms. Haley threatens to eclipse him.

And the debate could provide viewers a sneak preview of key 2028 players.

Its going to be one of the more interesting events of 2023, Mr. Clegg said. Its a debate between two of the premier governors of the country. Exhibition games can be highly satisfying in their own ways.

Max Scheinblum contributed reporting.

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Gavin Newsom Wants Fox News Viewers to Hear Him Out - The New York Times

I vividly remember my parents sitting at the kitchen table practicing the Pledge of Allegiance the night before they were to be sworn in as naturalized Americans. They wanted to get the pledge perfect. My mother fled her home country of El Salvador during the brutal civil war, and to this day has a thick accent. I was about 9 years old and annoyed that they wanted me to listen to them for what felt like hours, but as an adult, I have come to understand their dedication.

On election night in 2022, I met a young man holding a sign advocating for immigrants in Howard County. A voter made a rude comment, but he just smiled. I felt compelled to talk with the young man, and he told me his story. He was a Harvard graduate, author and a Dreamer a participant in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, which allows immigrants brought to America as children to remain here and work or study.

We spoke of our family histories and our common goals for a secure and accessible American dream. My conversation with this young man solidified what I already knew: A Republican with solid policy answers can win in Maryland.

When I was a radio host at WBAL, I interviewed Sen. Alan K. Simpson, co-author of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. I asked him how a Republican senator from Wyoming came to be involved in crafting one of the most critical immigration bills of the century. His answer was practical. Thats the only type of people that are goofy enough to handle it. You have to have somebody who is divorced from the emotion, fear, guilt and racism that goes with this issue.

The border states are overwhelmed and often angry that they have been left to handle this crisis largely on their own. It would be difficult for Republican legislators in those states to acknowledge the concessions needed for real immigration reform without losing reelection.

On the other extreme, Democrats response to illegal immigration has been willful ignorance. Only recently, as cities have been inundated with busloads of migrants, have elected officials in New York, Chicago and other places far from the border started to sound like their southern counterparts.

In addition, Democrats already vote as a unit. They may disagree behind closed doors, but in the end, the way they fall in line would make any kindergarten teacher proud. That means that real reform will require Republican support, but that support must start from within the party itself.

I agree with Sen. Simpson that the plan to fix our immigration system will come from an unlikely place, maybe even Maryland. Marylands 3rd Congressional District encompasses northern Anne Arundel County, all of Howard County and a sliver of Carroll County. It leans left, but without the Sarbanes name running for Congress there, now that John Sarbanes has announced plans to retire, it no longer lies flat in Democrats corner.

This district is full of intelligent and empathetic people. Many are registered Democrats as a last resort, not a first choice. It is the kind of environment that offers a common-sense Republican the political freedom to negotiate real immigration reform.

Ronald Reagan, the Republican president who signed that 1986 immigration bill understood the value of immigrants to this nation. In his final speech as president, he said the following: They give more than they receive But their greatest contribution is more than economic, because they understand in a special way how glorious it is to be an American.

President Reagan signed the bill crafted by a Republican Senator from Wyoming, and a Democratic Congressman from Kentucky, in 1986. That bill opened the door for my parents, and 3 million people like them to become Americans. They never missed an opportunity to tell their children how great this country is.

The young man I met on election night last year has been in this country most of his life. He is educated, works hard and has the same values as a natural born citizen like me. What he lacks is the opportunity to raise his hand like my parents did and pledge an oath to this country.

Democrats are wrong. We cannot pretend the immigration crisis is not real. We start by slowing the flow of illegal immigration, securing the border and simultaneously granting citizenship to the almost 600,000 current DACA recipients. Then we start overhauling our immigration system to allow hard working Dreamers to come to this country.

True immigration reform is needed, and it can come from Marylands 3rd Congressional District. I hope Republicans seize the opportunity to offer voters a sound, policy-oriented candidate in this rare opportunity to shape national policy.

Yuripzy Morgan (yuripzy@ymorganlaw.com) is a Republican, attorney and former WBAL radio host. She challenged U.S. Rep John Sarbanes, a Democrat, in the 2022 election.

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It will take a Republican to solve America's immigration issues ... - Baltimore Sun

Republicans in the House have passed legislation that would detain families at the border, require migrants to make the asylum claim at an official port of entry and either detain them or require them to remain outside the U.S. while their case is processed.

U.S. and international law give migrants the right to seek safety from persecution, but the number of people applying for asylum in the U.S. has reached historic highs. Critics say many people take advantage of the system to live and work in the U.S. while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed in court.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who is part of the Senate negotiations, said in an Arizona radio interview that one of lawmakers' goals is to ensure that those who are here seeking asylum have an actual claim to asylum.

Compromise is far from certain. Many Democrats are wary of making it harder to flee persecution, and the details of each policy shift are contentious.

Hardline conservatives in the House, already unlikely to support further Ukraine aid, have also signaled they won't accept policy changes that deviate much from a bill passed in May that would have remade the U.S. immigration system. Their stance means at least some support from House Democrats will be needed to pass any agreement no easy task.

Some progressives have already said they will oppose any Republican-led changes to immigration policy.

The cruel, inhumane, and unworkable solutions offered by Republicans will only create more disorder and confusion at the border, said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Lawmakers may find it easier to reach consensus on other areas of border policy, particularly when it comes to border staffing and enforcement. Negotiators have looked at steps that could be taken to reinforce existing infrastructure at the border, including hiring and boosting pay for border patrol officers and improving technology. One proposal advanced by a bipartisan group of senators would call for hiring of more border patrol agents, raising their pay and ensuring they receive overtime.Biden has shown a willingness to accept tougher enforcement measures, recentlyresuming deportation of migrantsto Venezuela and waiving federal laws to allow for theconstruction of border wallthat began under then-President Donald Trump. The White House also wants to install new imaging technology at ports of entry that would allow authorities to quickly scan vehicles for illegal imports, including fentanyl.Republicans say that is not enough. They want more robust improvements, including more expansive construction of a border wall.

Biden's emergency request to Congressincluded aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, along with $14 billion to bolster the immigration system and border security. Money would go toward hiring more border patrol agents, immigration judges and asylum officers. It's part of Biden's strategy of trying to simultaneously turn away from Trump's hard-line policies but adapt to the realities of crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Still, polls indicate widespreadfrustration with Bidens handling of immigrationand the border, creating a political vulnerability as he seeks reelection. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Senate Appropriations Committee this month that the administration has been faced with a global phenomenon of displaced people migrating in numbers that have not been seen since World War II.

It is unanimous that our broken immigration system is in dire need of reform, Mayorkas said.

Democrats have other immigration priorities, such as expanding legal immigration pathways or work authorizations for migrants already in the U.S. Democrats have also warned about the danger of delaying aid to Ukraine as it enters another winter of war against Russia.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said it's a mistake to create a situation where "we have to do significant immigration reform in the next few weeks or we wont send money to assist the people in Ukraine or other causes important to our national security.

Republicans have so far been adamant about the need to address Ukraine and the border at the same time.

Rep. Mike Turner, a strong supporter of aid to Ukraine and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he thought passing Biden's package would be very difficult to accomplish by year's end. The impediment currently is the White House policy on the on the southern border," said Turner, R-Ohio.

Lawmakers seem unlikely to address one of the nation's long-standing immigration issues: granting some form of permanent legal status to thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S.illegally as children. Republicans have made clear that will not be addressed in this package, which they want to be more narrowly focused on border security measures.

As Congress struggled to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul, President Barack Obama launchedthe Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programin 2012 to shield those immigrants from deportation and allow them to work legally in the country. But it has beencaught up in the courtsever since, and Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, tried to end it when he was in the White House.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of the Senate negotiators, would not say early last week whether his side had proposed DACA provisions as part of the talks. But he said any deal "has to respect both Republican and Democratic priorities.

The more Republicans want, the more Democrats are going to want, Murphy said.

Republicans argue that Ukraine aid could be a tough sell to some of their voters, and the border policy is the compromise.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican who has been involved in the talks, said before the Thanksgiving holiday that the negotiations were not "very close yet, because Democrats have not yet accepted that the negotiations are not border security for Democratic immigration priorities. Its border security for Ukraine aid.

So far, leaders in both parties have encouraged the talks. But as senators restart their work and face pressure to approve funding by the end of the year, some are warning that a narrow deal is likely the best that they can do.

I don't think it's realistic to solve anywhere close to the whole problem in the next two weeks, Murphy said.

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Why pairing border security in place of aid for Ukraine isn't so easy - KGUN 9 Tucson News

To beat former President Donald J. Trump in the coming months, Nikki Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, must stitch together a coalition of Republicans: Mr. Trumps most faithful supporters, voters who like his policies but who have grown weary of him personally, and the smaller but still vocal contingent who abhor him entirely.

Its a challenge that will test what political strategists and those who have observed Ms. Haleys ascent from her first underdog win in South Carolina have said is among her greatest skills as a candidate: an ability to calibrate her message to the moment.

Since announcing her bid in February, she has campaigned much like an old guard Republican: hawkish on foreign policy, supportive of legal immigration reform and staunchly in favor of the international alliances that Mr. Trump questioned during his administration. She has also sounded a lot like the former president, whose America First rhetoric she echoed while serving as one of his diplomats, with aggressive calls to send the U.S. military into Mexico and remarks about the need to rid schools and the military of perceived left-wing influences on hot-button cultural issues like race and transgender rights.

Other than how she has navigated Mr. Trump himself, perhaps no issue best exemplifies Ms. Haleys approach than abortion. She backed harsh restrictions on the procedure as governor of South Carolina and has called herself unapologetically pro-life on the trail, but she has struck a flexible tone as her party has flailed in countering the electoral backlash the conservative majority on the Supreme Court triggered when it overturned Roe v. Wade. Her appeals for consensus have been among the most common reasons cited for her upward climb in the polls in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist and a former aide to Mitt Romney who has known Ms. Haley since she was a state lawmaker first running for governor, said she has always been a pragmatic conservative." She is comfortable in her own skin, and she is going to win or lose based on her own values and beliefs, he said. Still, the difficulty for her, as for all the candidates attempting to emerge as a Trump alternative, is that what a conservative is has been redefined by Trump himself, he said.

Mr. Trumps lead over the field is dominant nationally and in every early state polled, and it remains uncertain that Ms. Haley could peel away enough of his faithful, no matter her approach, to come out on top. And what has so far propelled her could also become a liability, should she alienate one or more faction. Her rivals, including Mr. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, have sought to portray her as insufficiently conservative and as someone who panders to Democrats. Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, labeled her a snake oil salesman who will say whatever she needs to say to get power.

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To Beat Trump, Nikki Haley Is Trying to Speak to All Sides of a ... - The New York Times

FAIR Take | November2023

Last Wednesday, Congressional leaders in the House and Senate agreed on something keep the government open and kick the can down the road on solving the Biden Border Crisis. Congress finished its business before the 11thhour andpassed a Continuing Resolution (CR)to keep the government funded until after the new year. However, the deal orchestrated by House Republican leadership fails to do anything to secure the border and stop the surge of illegal aliens wreaking havoc on Americancommunities.

The deal adopted a novel approach, developed by the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), creating two separate funding deadlines for government agencies. Funding for some departments and agencies will expire on January 19, 2024, while funding for others, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will expire on February 2,2024.

But despite its structure, the continuing resolution simply maintains Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 spending levels, without any real policy measures to stop mass illegal immigration. It does nothing to end the mass catch-and-release of illegal aliens, stop asylum abuse, or limit the abuse of parole. In short, the funding bill simply reinforces thestatusquo.

The failure of Congress to act on immigration comes at a critical moment for our national security. In the past few weeks, top experts issued dire warnings of terror threats posed by our wide-open borders. Recentgovernment data shows that a record172 individuals on the terror watchlisthad been apprehended by the Border Patrol illegally crossing into the country in FY23 alone.Hostile nationals and their proxy terror groups have openly threatened the American people in recent months.And over70,000 Special Interest Alienswere encountered by U.S. border agents between October 2021 and October 2023,including 6,386 Afghans, 3,153 Egyptians, 659 Iranians, and538Syrians.

Further, in October, encounters of aliens entering the country illegally once again exceeded 300,000. This is on top of the more than 3.2 million illegal aliens that were encountered last fiscal year alone, and the more than 1.7 million gotaways that evaded the Border Patrol. Congress has about 75 days before government funding expires again, and in that time, at the current rate, nearly one million more migrants will illegally enter theU.S.

Before the vote last Wednesday, FAIR issued stern warnings that funding alone would not solve the crisis and that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should not be allowed to waste more taxpayer money to process and release illegal aliens into American communities. FAIR also argued that Congress must be held accountable for its failure to stop the border crisis.House Republicans have now squandered a full year of their two-year control without passing a budget to force the Administration to end its reckless immigration policies. Halting the Biden Border Crisis was an explicit promise made last year when Republicans asked American voters to entrust them with leadership oftheHouse.

The Senate, meanwhile, has refused to put forward any solutions. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said that immigration policy changes are non-starters. Fortunately, Minority Leader McConnell (R-Ky.) has laid down his marker and said that policy changes not just more moneymust be part of any package. On thefloor, McConnell said, Its hard to ignore the crisis on our southern border. It has erupted under Washington Democrats watch. McConnell continued to say that Democrats are not ready to seriously address the issues driving the bordercrisis.

A small group in the Senate is currently working on a border security package, but that package fails to adequately reform our asylum system or address the surge of unaccompanied children that are being encountered or trafficked into the country. Meanwhile, Congress has now adjourned until November 28th, at which time they could return to Washington to consider the Presidentssupplemental budget requestto provide over $13.6 billion for Israel, Ukraine andDHS.

As part of that supplemental request, Congress must ensure that our borders are secured, and policy changes are implemented to stop the flood of illegal immigration. FAIR plans to push hard for policy changes that will strengthen border security and will remain on the front line to ensure Americans are prioritized in any spending package. The message: House leadership must insist that H.R. 2 be included in any spending package moving forward, and the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats must commit to real border andimmigrationenforcement.

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Shutdown Averted but Congress Leaves the Border in Chaos ... - Federation for American Immigration Reform