Immigration and the Dems

An interesting blog post by Gloria Borger from US News & World Report on immigration and the Democratic candidates.

The immigration issue has divided the Republicans more than the Democrats. If you read the letters to the Nation, however, it divides liberals too, a lot.

Both parties are divided, yet the debate the summer before last crystallized the issue in the following way: Democrats = for illegal immigrants, Republicans = against them.

Could this change? In theory it's a new issue and could change. But in practice the extremes have defined the party's positions, and this won't change. When I asked this question to a Washington journalist this past summer, he didn't even understand the question. Republicans are pro-enforcement, Democrats pro-rights for undocumented workers. Even with the Republican President pushing for reform, the party is identified with something very different.

This favors Republicans in the short term. It angers the big agribusinesses that contribute to the Republicans, but will win votes on a salient issue. The electoral promise of Hispanic votes is in the future; in the present it is overrated.

Here's Borger's comments:

Not only was [Hillary] caught without a clear idea of how to handle the matter; the entire dais of Democrats sharing the debate stage with her seemed to be a tad undone by the question—and pleased that she had been called on first. That way, they could jump on her for taking both sides of an issue (a fair critique, to be sure) but delay their own answers long enough to figure out how to straddle the matter.

Independent voters are unhappy that nothing has been done on the matter, and anyone who wants to be president needs to keep independent voters happy. In fact, a recent survey by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg shows that the top issue underlying the discontent of independents is "unprotected" borders. For these voters, the matter of illegal immigration is a question of breaking laws and not a stalking horse for something else—like racism. The public is practical and wants tougher enforcement. And if the Democrats can't find some way to embrace the principle of the rule of law, then they've got a problem. "We need to have a strategy beyond saying the Republicans are awful," says one top Democratic strategist. "And we don't."