| McCain and Obama on Immigration: Not Much Ado About Not Much |
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| Written by Len Sherman | |
| Wednesday, 18 June 2008 | |
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McCain and Obama on Immigration: Not Much Ado About Not Much
While the presidential candidates have no hesitation in wrangling about Iraq, economics, and other pressing and not-so-pressing topics, they both done their best to avoid talking about immigration. Oh, they both pay lip service to the issue, and both reform – drumbeat now – “meaningful immigration reform,” whatever that means, though one thing he evidently does mean for both men is to build that border fence. However, when push comes to shove, each does whatever he can to avoid the subject. The reasons for this mutual rectitude are obvious: Both want the huge Latino vote out there, and both want to get it without alienating any segment of the white vote. Which candidate does this sound like? From CNN: (He) has supported President Bush-backed immigration legislation, which would have increased funding and improved border security technology, improved enforcement of existing laws, and provided a legal path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. The senator also voted to authorize construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. (His) campaign said in a statement: "It's not that we will grant citizenship, but we strongly support requiring them to legalize their status and allowing them to earn their right to commit to this country and eventually become citizens." So? Obama or McCain? You’re right, whichever one you chose. Hey, they hit all the points, starting with security and protecting the border, before moving on to some nice words about making everything all right, for everybody. Differences do exist. McCain opposes and Obama supports giving driver’s licenses to the undocumented. McCain opposes and Obama supports the DREAM Act, which would provide a means for high school students who are long-term illegal immigrants, and who wish to attend college or serve in the armed forces, a route to achieve legal status. While important differences, the broader consensus remains, and that, in the long run, will serve Obama well, because the Latino vote is his to lose. As befits the Democrat candidate, Obama currently beats McCain among Hispanics 62 to 28 percent in a new Wall Street Journal NBC poll, which is fairly par for the course for a Democrat versus Republican contest. President Bush tried mighty hard to woo Hispanics to the Party, to form a permanent majority, but his 2004 re-election campaign, veering hard to the right, dashed those hopes. Bush had loudly championed real immigration reform during his first term, but didn’t push it the second time around. As Time Magazine quotes Ron Brownstein in his book, The Second Civil War: "Comprehensive immigration reform was the center piece of his effort to court the Latino voters whom strategists like (Karl) Rove and (Matthew) Dowd considered crucial to the party's future fortunes," Brownstein wrote. "It was also Bush's best chance for an important second-term legislative achievement after the collapse of his Social Security plan, not to mention an opportunity to make substantive progress against an entrenched problem. But Bush's overriding priority on unifying Republicans prevented him from achieving any of those goals. Instead, he was left with an immigration policy built solely around enforcement and symbolized by an exclusionary fence, an approach many Latinos saw as punitive and even racist." Brownstein goes on to note that Latino support for GOP candidates fell from 44% in 2004 to 29% in 2006. Bush’s legacy is left to McCain to try and improve, and McCain would have had a real chance at doing – if he had remained true to his longstanding posture as one of the leading advocates of true immigration reform in the Senate, exemplified by having been one of the authors of what was known as the comprehensive immigration bill. In fact, he was the chief supporter of Bush’s immigration policy, until, under pressure from the dominant, right wing of the Republican Party, he did an about-face and began to parrot the security-first, send-‘em-back party line. That means Obama can stand pat, avoid any real consideration of the issue, and win the Latino vote. In a line, the Hispanic vote will probably end where it started. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 July 2008 ) |
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