WHAT? Renee Ellmers Claims She Has 'Same Immigration Stance as Cruz, Paul, Lee'

Last Saturday, Renee Ellmers (R-NC02) — a 2010 Tea Party favorite who has since lost the support of conservatives — gave a brief speech to the Moore County, North Carolina GOP Convention. During the speech, she claimed to hold the same views on immigration as Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and even Dr. Ben Carson.

This statement came a few days after Ellmers’ tendentious appearance with Laura Ingraham last week — an interview that might have progressed smoothly had Ellmers actually expressed the same views on immigration as those four.

Ellmers’ brief speech in Moore County offered no specification backing her claim, did not address how the statement was at odds with her recent appearance with Laura Ingraham, and was given seemingly without considering that someone would reach out to one of those four for comment.

(I have — I will print any responses here.)

Following Ellmers’ speech, the convention attendees proceeded to select her opponent Frank Roche two-to-one in the straw poll. A terrible showing, especially considering she is the two term incumbent, and this was a GOP convention, not a Tea Party gathering.

Here is the speech in its entirety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNNwxNwaDps

Ellmers appearing with Laura Ingraham to discuss immigration was a harebrained decision, a mistake clear to anyone familiar with Ingraham’s commitment and experience opposing amnesty. Following that error, Ellmers compounded it by highlighting the praise she received from the Mark Zuckerberg-led, transparent, dopey amnesty ploy “Americans for a Conservative Direction.”

We cannot know, but these bizarre two weeks of campaigning by Renee Ellmers sure looks like the result of an ambitious candidate attempting to please national GOP leadership ahead of her constituency. Or perhaps one promised aid from the national party, an amount she believes sufficient to hold off her conservative challenger Frank Roche.

Though she has generally governed with an abandonment of her 2010 platform and base, the current missteps now seem less the work of an amateur, and more that of a two-headed monster: national leadership and Ellmers’ local team, trading off on odd and even days. I don’t know how else to figure it.

Either way, I do not see how she recovers, considering both the makeup of her district and the already significant anger over her tenure. Ann Coulter endorsed Frank Roche yesterday, and she hadn’t even seen this video yet.

Again, I have reached out to Cruz, Lee, and Paul, and will post any responses here.