Tom Cole on the issues

While the 2008 general election is still well over a year away, Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole is leaving nothing to chance. Like Democratic strategists, Cole is working now for a win in 2008. And last week, he sat down with The Transcript to discuss the current political climate.

On the 2008 Elections:
“We’re focused on Democratic freshmen,” he said. “Now the Democrats have to cast tough votes. When you are in the majority, you have to move legislation and you are responsible for what does and what doesn’t happen. And there are 21 seats (which) are held by Democratic freshmen, that a Republican can carry. Those seats have votes, particularly inside those districts, that they can be held accountable for.”

To take those seats, Cole is actively recruiting new candidates.

“Our candidate recruitment is way ahead of schedule,” he said. “A lot of places we’re recruiting are Republican areas with Republican infrastructure.”

But while Cole is optimistic about the GOP’s chances next fall, he’s also pragmatic.

“Everything is going to have to align right in the House for us to win a majority, but that’s not impossible I like our positioning the way it is. I think we’re going to have a very close, very intense presidential race.”

To win, Cole is aiming for low-hanging fruit.

That fruit is actually congressional districts which were formerly Republican, that Cole believes can be brought again back into the GOP column.

“Most of the places I have to win are going to be carried by GOP (presidential) nominee. I don’t have to take new territory, just reclaim the territory we had.”

But even that, Cole said, could be tough, because “most incumbents get re-elected.”

On why Republicans lost in 2006:
In an interview with the Washington Post, Cole downplayed criticism about the GOP-controlled congress’ spending habits.

“Oh, I don’t think the problem was spending,” Cole told the Post in May. “People who argue that we lost because we weren’t true to our base, that’s just wrong.”

That quote got Cole in trouble with some Republicans, including well known conservative Richard Viguerie who has even started a petition calling for Cole’s resignation.

Later, in another interview, Cole expanded on his comment.

“Oh I know, a lot of people are mad at me over that,” he said, noting that the Post’s question asked had been over spending.

“Now I think spending is an important matter. I’m a fiscal conservative and I’ve got the voting record to prove that. But do I think that’s the cause of our defeat in 2006? No. I can point to members who lost because of the Bush factor; I can point to members who lost because of Iraq; I can point to members who lost because of misbehavior. I can’t point to any single member who lost on that issue alone.”

On immigration:
“President Bush is a centerist on immigration; He is the only recent president who’s done anything about (it) immigration.
He’s tried to come up with some sort of rational solution. Right now, there is no national concensus on immigration because their hasn’t been an open, national debate.”

To solve the problem, Cole said immigration reform should be broken down into a series of steps.

The first thing is to recapture the confidence of the American people and enforce the law and increase border patrols on the country’s northern (Canadian) border.

“I’m not saying the southern border isn’t a threat,” he said. “Because it could be. But the real border threat is from the north — the Canadian border.”

The Mexican border, Cole said, “has people all over it.”

“We stop about four out of every five there (Mexico); people don’t know that we actually stop the overwhelming majority of the people trying to come through (the Mexican border).”

American, Cole said, needs a big national dialogue and debate about the issue.

On his bin Laden quote:
“What do you think Hitler would have thought if Roosevelt would've lost the election in 1944? He would not have thought American resolve was strengthening. What would the Confederacy have thought if Lincoln would have lost the election of 1864? I promise you this, if George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election. It's that simple. It will be interpreted that way by enemies of the United States around the world."

Cole’s critics said he was using fear tactics and comparing Sen. John Kerry to Hitler and bin Laden. Cole disagreed. He said had been misinterpreted and refused to retract his comments.

Cole’s five big issues facing the American people:
“1. How to maintain America’s economic supremacy in an era of global competiiton. Americans are not sure. They are sure they are No. 1 today, but not sure they will be in 20 years.

2. Entitlements. Social security and Medicare is a system that is not stable. It will take a bipartisan effort to fix it.

3. Health care. Because the cost is growing astronomically.

4. National security. We're gonna' be involved in a generation long war.

5. Immigration.”