Stan Greenberg, who along with James Carville does the Democracy Corps series of polling, also happens to be Rahm Emanuel's right-hand guy and chief ally in the effort to push the Democratic caucus and its candidates running for office to the far-right and out of the mainstream on immigration.
Emanuel invited Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg to the caucus meeting to discuss his polling on immigration. Some Democratic strategists ridiculed this idea because of Hispanic lawmakers’ skepticism about Greenberg’s record on immigration.
In The New Republic last month, Greenberg equated the immigration issue with welfare reform, saying Democrats had to get tough on enforcement before creating a path to citizenship. Many political strategists disagree.
“The real question is what are we going to do to fix the problem,” Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network (NDN), said. “Voters are looking for a solution, not more politics. The anger around immigration is as much about the issue as Washington’s inability to fix it.
“Immigration has not been terribly controversial. [The Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill] is an oasis of bipartisanship rather than a third rail.”
Greenberg did not respond to requests for comment.
Some Democratic operatives have not forgiven him for his role polling for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) during his 2004 presidential campaign. Greenberg predicted in July 2004 that Bush would win just 31 percent of the Hispanic vote. As a result of that polling, Kerry’s senior aides cut a $750,000 Spanish-language advertising buy, former campaign aides said.
Exit polls showed that Bush had won 44 percent of Hispanic votes, a 10 percent jump from 2000. Later analyses showed that Bush had won 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.
The president’s Hispanic support withered after Republicans supported legislation that called for the deportation of 12 million illegal and undocumented immigrants. Democrats overwhelmingly won the Hispanic vote in 2006 and the party wants to solidify that support next year.
A vocal (bipartisan) minority is obsessed about immigration, but the vast (bipartisan) majority of Americans believe in comprehensive immigration reform that secures our border while providing a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants.
The plan, under which illegal immigrants could become citizens if they have no criminal record, register with the Department of Homeland Security, pay a fine, learn English and meet other requirements, was supported by 64% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans.
Amazingly, Americans of all political stripes have reached that conclusion despite the loud demonizations of brown people by right-wing hate radio, the likes of Lou Dobbs, and the Tom Tancredos and Rahm Emanuels in DC without any significant push back.
Furthermore, as we have seen now two cycles in a row, Immigration is not an electoral killer. It's an issue, yes, and it must be addressed. But do Democrats suffer short-term pain by standing for sensible immigration reform? The same reform championed by the likes of George Bush, Harry Reid, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, the Catholic Church, many evangelical denominations, and lots more groups on both sides of the ideological divide?
Of course not. The results in 2006 and 2007 speak for themselves. And long term, it's a path to a dominant progressive majority.