Ted Kennedy made headlines recently when he unveiled the "Great Compromise" on immigration reform. I personally believe that Senator Kennedy, who's long been involved in this issue, is sincere in offering the compromise, as he's been active in this issue for decades and has a record of working on a bi-partisan basis with the GOP to make incremental gains.
But there's an alternative theory being floated out by Jim Pinkerton, a former Bush 41 Aide, that this bill is a divide and conquer strategy being advanced by Kennedy to create, or more appropriately,exploit a rift within the GOP on this issue. You can read it here:ttp://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-oppin225224212may22,0,2929511.column?coll=ny-viewpoints-h
eadlines
Again, I don't think Kennedy is that cynical on this issue and he does have a long record of pragmatism. He also has been known to work for what is right, even when its not in the party's best interests in terms of winning elections, like his courageous work on the 1990 Civil Rights act, which was supposedly poison to the party's efforts to woo southern white voters back into the fold. While it's unlikely that Kennedy is acting the way Pinkerton implies, I do think Kennedy just threw the drowning GOP an anvil. This is bad politics for them. Not coincidentally, Rasmussen has Bush at his all time low in its tracking poll today (33%!) and Rasmussen attributs this in part to immigration:
The President’s ratings tumble each time immigration reform dominates the news because he loses support among his base—just 66% of Republicans now give him their approval (that matches the lowest level of support he’s ever received from his base). Even as the stock markets set new records, just 36% of investors approve of the President’s performance.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...
I think this reform bill is potentially lethal to an already ailing GOP. I think it helps push the wingnuts like Tancredo to the forefront and puts more sensible Republicans on the defensive. It also adds another area where the party faitfull can't afford to make common cause with Bush. And opposing it probably further alienates Latino voters. From a political standpoint, I don't see an upside to this bill for the GOP and don't see a downside for us. What do you think?