Well, the Preznit gave a big speech today on immigration. This was, of course, part of his grand effort to try
and swtich the debate away from Iraq, Fitzmas, and all that sort of stuff and reassert himself as Cowboy-in-Chief:
Not ready to throw in the towel and declare the boss a lame duck, the Bushies are hoping two issues can help firm up their base and perhaps make inroads with centrists who voted for Bush: the anticipated confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, and a plan to reinforce the border with Mexico to help stop illegal immigration.
This week Bush will begin to press the border security issue, while Alito's Senate confirmation hearings start early next year. Aides hope those issues will draw attention away from the war and leak probe.
Right. He'll be lucky if he doesn't shoot himself in the foot doing it.
First off, if anyone thinks this actually going to distract people from Iraq then they are simply insane. Between Fitzmas, Iraq, corruption probes, and all the other news out there I can't see how this issue has much traction in the long run except for the people who already care about it a whole heck of a lot. And how is Bush's plan going to play out for those people?
-- It will piss off all the people who think illegal immigrants are hardworking folk who deserve a break, since it focuses on increasing security, repatriating people back to the interior of the country, and so on.
-- It will alienate people who are, have been, or know illegals, who understandably won't appreciate being compared to terrorists. There is a strong wiff of Pete Wilson here, and Bush seems to be gambling that the anti-immigration tide can be stoked back to life. Personally, I doubt it. Qotes like this are bound to piss a lot of people off:
To defend this country, we have to enforce our borders. When our borders are not secure, terrorists, drug dealers, and criminals find it easier to sneak into America. My administration has a clear strategy for dealing with this problem: We want to stop people from crossing into America illegally, and to quickly return the illegal immigrants we catch back to their home countries.
-- By continuing to include a "guest worker" plan, Bush almost gaurantees annoying his base rather than mollifying it. Perhaps I'm wrong here, and his effort to "crack down" on immigration will woo them back. But in order to sell the plan to moderates, he's including something that the anti-immigration folks can't really tolerate.
-- And finally, it has the potential to remind people that, gosh, a lot of illegal immigrants have gotten through since 9/11... why has it taken this long to secure our borders? The words "dishonest," "corruption," and "incompetent" flow easily from the lips from that point onward.
Clearly, illegal immigration is a serious issue, and it would be great to have an actual conversation about it. But this isn't the time. This is a complicated issue, with tons of landmines in it. The fact that Bush is turning to this in order to revive his image shows just how deperate he is. My advice to Democrats? Avoid playing the race card (even if its justified), use the issue to attack Bush on his failures on homeland security in general, and let Bush shoot himself in the foot.