So what if Tester voted against the DREAM act?
So Tester votes against cloture and needs to lose. Huh? And we would be happy with a Conrad Burns type Senator from Montana? How does that make us any different from Republicans who want Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe defeated because they votes for cloture on DADT? Seriously?
The whole country does not agree with us on DREAM act. I have gone though the immigration process legally and have issues with the arrogance displayed by some Hispanic activists who want us to give them comprehensive immigration reform without any plan to secure the border. We will lose states like Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio if we do not address the economic and cultural aspects of unfettered illegal immigration. Making Jon Tester a scapegoat will not help beyond just venting unproductively.
I recently watched the special that Lawrence O'Donnell hosted on MSNBC on illegal immigration and there was a young activist who was the left's version of Liz Cheney who kept interrupting a conservative former ICE agent. So the message to anyone who disagrees on illegal immigration -- even on the left and the center -- is that we should shut up and vote for whatever the growing Hispanic base wants.
My wife, as part of her job, helps teen moms who have dropped out of school. A vast majority of the them are impregnated by men who have come to the US illegally. This is anecdotal, of course. But it also proves that illegal immigration is a convoluted issue has different degrees of impact of different people.
I remember several acrimonious debates on this site with people objecting to H-1B visas since it affected THEM personally. Well, illegal immigration affects others in this country and we had better find a way to deal with this rather than just demonizing those that disagree with us.
Republicans will not get a better deal in MA than Scott Brown and we will not get a better deal in MT than Jon Tester.
UPDATE: The comment on my spouse's job has touched a nerve. Fine. The fact remains that illegal immigration has many manifestations and giving what is perceived as a benefit to illegals is not easy politically. I support the DREAM Act. But to demonize Tester and salivate for his defeat makes us no different from the Republicans.