I never thought I'd see the day:
Sean Hannity declared earlier that he has “evolved” on the matter of immigration and came out in favor of a “pathway to citizenship.” He also stated that our country needs to come to a lasting solution so that we can “get rid of the immigration issue altogether.”
“It’s simple to me to fix it,” Hannity said. “I think you control the border first. You create a pathway for those people that are here — you don’t say you’ve got to go home. And that is a position that I’ve evolved on. Because, you know what, it’s got to be resolved. The majority of people here, if some people have criminal records you can send them home, but if people are here, law-abiding, participating for years, their kids are born here, you know, first secure the border, pathway to citizenship, done.”
“You can’t let the problem continue — it’s got to stop,” the conservative radio host added.
I can't predict what exactly this will mean, but it does look like even some of the more vocal voices on the right are learning the lessons of the past two presidential elections. This is obviously a welcome contrast from the Republican presidential primaries, where the race was over who could be the most harsh, and where Rick Perry, who signed the Texas version of the DREAM Act in 2001 (which allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition if they were Texas residents) , got
torpedoed after saying that his opponents were "heartless" for criticizing him over that law.
The proof will be in the pudding, and we can't celebrate anything yet. But I'm hopeful this means we will have success as long as we keep fighting for a comprehensive solution. Sorry for the short post, I wanted to get this out there ASAP.
PS-Please check out my new book Obama's America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity, published last month by Potomac Books, where I discuss Barack Obama's ideas on racial, ethnic, and national identity in detail, and contrast his inclusive vision to language coming from Mitt Romney, Rush Limbaugh and (some) others on the right. You can read a review by DailyKos's own Greg Dworkin here.