CA: Hater Republican Group says campaign lacks needed signatures to Ban Immigrants from Public Benefits

Ignored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and short on cash, a grass-roots Republican group yesterday abandoned an initiative campaign to bar illegal immigrants from obtaining driver licenses and other public benefits. The broader debate over illegal immigration, however, is certain to continue to play out in Washington, where President Bush is pushing new federal policies, and in California, where Schwarzenegger is tangling with Latino activists over driver licenses. With a Tuesday deadline looming, campaign leaders counting signatures realized they were as many as 150,000 short of the number needed to qualify the measure for the ballot. The daunting challenge forced them to concede. Mike Spence, leader of the effort, blamed the setback on an inability to attract donations to cover the cost of paying signature gatherers. "We didn't have enough money," he said. Spence and others were hoping for backing from Rep. Darrell Issa, a wealthy Vista Republican, that never materialized. Issa, who bankrolled much of the signature gathering to qualify the recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, kept his checkbook closed this time. A millionaire by virtue of his car-alarm business, Issa did provide mailing lists and urged his followers to sign the petitions, Spence said. "He did more than quite a few others did, even though we didn't get any money," Spence said. The campaign also was hurt when the Republican governor decided to sit on the sidelines. "I think it's old hat. I mean, I've (got) no interest," Schwarzenegger said this summer. Francisco Estrada of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the campaign's collapse showed that Californians want "meaningful immigration reform that will move the state forward and not cause another ugly and divisive fight." [more]