Here it comes! We knew it would show up, just like clockwork, just like it has every election cycle since 1968, or maybe since 1946, if you want to count the red-baiting Commie Scare of McCarthy, Nixon and company.
The Party of Straw Men, Baseless Threats, and Things that go Bump in the Night is sending up trial balloons for what it hopes will be the distraction that will keep the electorate from giving them the thrashing they so richly deserve.
Those Orange Terror alerts just don't have the same punch that they used to. And now after a few years, Republicans in places like Massachusetts, Vermont Maine and California are downright soft on gay marriage. Only on the home turf of the American Taliban, like Texas, does frightening little children (or those with the minds of little children) with the nightmare of Adam and Steve moving in next door carry any traction.
Hmmmm.....so what issue could possibly help push the various factions of the crumbling Republican base back into each others' increasingly reluctant arms? What issue is guaranteed to turn Democrats into a bunch of mush-mouthed feckless feebs talking past each other, convincing no one? What issue will heat up the airwaves' of Know Nothing talk radio shows with venom and bile and hatred?
Why Immigration, of course!
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Never mind that for at least the last twenty years administrations of both parties have pretended to make it a top priority, and coupled it with everything from the war on drugs, to affirmative action, to NAFTA, to terrorism, to score points on issues they REALLY care about. And things are worse than ever according to virtually any standard of measurement.
Immigration, like poverty and drugs, is one of those issues that is always with us, always the other guy's fault, and would be simple to fix if somebody was just man enough to step up to the plate and crack down harder than ever before.
Hoping to divert Americans attention away from Iraq and corruption for a change, the leaders of the War President's party are rallying the troops for the mother of all Red State/Blue State battles, a battle that will use racism, misuse economic data, and is guaranteed to play on the public's stereotypes about both parties. It will give Republicans a chance to distance themselves from the Bush administration while playing "tough guy" and serving the corporate donors.
Democrats should be ready with a strategy that actually turns the debate on immigration back on the Right wing, while solidifying their gains with the Latino community.
Democrats should hammer home the point that it is the employers who hire undocumented workers and exploit them that are committing the real crime.
Democrats should reinvigorate their ties with labor by stressing that it is the erosion of workers rights and standards that have allowed so many jobs to become "work Americans don't want to do."
Democrats can use immigration to point out why supporting public education, universal health care and affirmative action help break the cycle of poverty.
Democrats can appeal to the great working class immigrant traditions of most American families and seek consensus on truly welcoming those here, and making them part of the tapestry of our national family.
Democrats should push for "fair trade" over "free trade" to raise standards abroad to make illegal immigration to the US less compelling.
Democrats should highlight the party's inclusiveness and the vibrancy of immigrant communities, and remind all Americans of how their lives are touched daily by the richness of the many cultures that have come here.
Democrats could do all these things. But will they?
Keep on eye on "The West Wing," and watch how Santos and Vinick play the game.