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The Politics of Immigration Weekly Round-up (1/22/08) Well, what can we say, the new year seems to have ushered in a period of sober awareness among the chattering classes with respect to the immigration issue. After spending the better part of last year spelling doom and gloom for the Democrats over the immigration issue, and after much speculation that immigration was going to be the number one issue for 2008, the national pundits seem to finally be arriving at the same conclusion: Um, they were wrong. Hard not to say “we told you so.”<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><?xml:namespace prefix = o /> With primary battles in the early states coming to a close and as we approach Super Tuesday, it has become abundantly clear that immigration is not the third rail of American politics as some would have us believe. Is immigration on the minds of voters? Sure. Do Democrats and Republicans need to find a workable solution to our broken immigration system? Absolutely. Is immigrant-bashing, fear-mongering and pushing hard line immigration rhetoric the way to win primaries? Quite the contrary – just ask Mitt Romney who managed to lose Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina despite dumping millions of dollars in to all three states attacking his Republican rivals by using harsh anti-immigrant language and hard-line rhetoric. Or maybe we could ask John McCain, the current GOP frontrunner who—despite much speculation that the immigration issue would be the death of this campaign—is the most trusted by voters who leaned republican to handle the immigration issue according to a new Washington Post poll. Perhaps Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said it best, quoted in a January 18 Journal Sentinel editorial: "This (immigration) is a demagogue issue. . . . There is a sense out there that there is some simple solution. I think all of you know the following rule of thumb: For every complicated problem, there is a simple solution that's wrong." Read on for the weekly round up on the politics of immigration… In the News The Miami Herald on the long-expected power punch of immigration: “Illegal immigration -- which consumed recent GOP debates with charges of hypocrisy and policy flip-flops and put Democratic presidential candidates on the defensive -- has faded as a key issue for Florida voters. As the Sunshine State heads into the Jan. 29 primary election, polls show the slowing economy is voters' top concern.” Miami Herald, Immigration issue fades as key issue, January 20, 2008 And Frank Rich of the New York Times delivers a rather blunt assessment of how the immigration issue has played for the GOP this election season: Even the White House halfheartedly acknowledged the home-mortgage fiasco ahead of this crew. Instead, the Republican candidates have largely clung to illegal immigration as Domestic Crisis No. 1, to no particular point beyond alienating Hispanic voters. The election is more than nine months away, and already this obsession is blowing up in the G.O.P.’s face with non-Hispanic voters, too. Far from proving the killer app of 2008, illegal immigration is evaporating as a national cause. In the nearly identical findings of The New York Times/CBS News and ABC News/Washington Post polls this month, it ranks near the bottom, the top issue for a mere 4 to 5 percent of voters. The economy (at 20 to 29 percent) leads in both surveys, closely followed by the total of those picking some variant of “war” and “Iraq.” As if it weren’t crazy enough for Republicans to lash themselves to the listing mast of immigration, they are nonplayers on the issues that do matter most to voters. New York Times, Ronald Reagan Is Still Dead, January 20, 2008 And Janet Murguia, president and CEO of National Council of La Raza, became the first Latina to be keynote speaker at the MLK Unity Breakfast in Birmingham. Murguia highlighted the need for unity in battling intolerance and hate speech: “The keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast on Monday is a Kansas native and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Organizers said they chose Janet Murguia, the president and chief executive officer of the National Council of La Raza, because of her message of unity and her opposition to a resurgence of hate speech in the immigration debate. Associated Press, Birmingham’s King Day Event to Spotlight Immigration Debate Jan 20, 2008 Spanish Language Press (Our Translation) Andres Oppenheimer highlights the failure of the anti-immigration strategy in national politics: My conclusion: The New Hampshire primary represented a victory for candidates with across-the-board political appeal, such as McCain, Clinton and in a way Obama, and a crushing defeat for real or campaign-season demagogues, including Romney and Edwards. Hopefully, as the race moves on from nearly all-white states to the more diverse South and West, candidates who embraced the anti-Hispanic immigration cause will realize that it may cause them more harm than good. So far, the anti-immigration constituency has made a lot of noise but has not delivered the vote. El Nuevo Herald, Anti-immigration strategy fails, January 10, 2008 And Andrea Carrión Diario observes that despite the anti-immigration rhetoric that has dominated much of the early primary states on the part of some presidential candidates, the Latino is quickly becoming an important voting constituency for 2008 : A little more than three weeks before the primary elections in California, the Democratic presidential candidates have begun their hunt for a majority of Hispanic votes. The Democratic presidential candidates are conscious of the strength of the Latino electorate – they represent close to one fourth of Democratic voters. For that reason they have begun not only to fill their ranks with influential community leaders, they have also immersed themselves into communities that have the largest number of Latino voters. Hoy Internet, Democratic Candidates Seeking Latino Support, January 14, 2008 On the Blogs Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez takes the New York Times to task for its representation of the alleged “Black Brown Divide”: “There are many things to admire about the New York Times. A complex and nuanced understanding of the vast diversity of Latino America is not among those things. Over at Latina Lista, Marisa Treviño observes the first signs that the sleeping giant may finally be awake: “Speculation on which group could be the swing vote in the Nevada caucus, and the overall presidential election, has centered on three groups: females, young people and coming in at a distant third, Latinos. Given past rhetoric as to the strength of the Latino vote, a lot of people didn't dismiss Latinos entirely but felt females and young people had stronger potential to deliver the vote to either candidate. Nevada was said to be the test for the strength of the Latino vote in this upcoming election, and Latinos didn't disappoint.” Other Resources · For a closer look at 2007 races, visit www.Immigration2007.org · For a look at polling and public opinion on immigration and legalization, visit the National Immigration Forum’s website at www.immigrationforum.org · For a look at the Latino electorate and the impact of the immigration debate, see NDN’s report, Hispanics Rising · For a comprehensive look at the Latino electorate, see NCLR’s report The Latino Electorate: Profile and Trends ### |
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