Dancing with the GOPers
by digby
Even as the Sunday shows were atwitter with predictions that a deal is close on immigration reform, Greg Sargent reports that Marco Rubio took the occasion to cast doubt on the prospects for success by joining other Senators who are calling for the process to slow down:
“We will need a healthy public debate that includes committee hearings and the opportunity for other senators to improve our legislation with their own amendments,” he said on Sunday. “Excessive haste in the pursuit of a lasting solution is perhaps even more dangerous to the goals many of us share,” he said on Saturday.
As my Post colleague Evan Soltas points out, Rubio has effectively built himself a “very clear escape hatch” on immigration. If he needs to bail, he’s got his excuse: The process was rushed, or Democrats were unfair procedurally to Republicans.
As Greg points out, the opponents of reform are the ones who’ve been saying the process is going too fast and should be slowed down. So Rubio’s really playing both sides and in a rather crude and obvious way.
But I don’t really get why Rubio’s so nervous about this. He’s the perfect (possible) presidential candidate to convey the message. He could be a hero to some Hispanics and with his personal story and accomplishments he gives hardcore GOP types who want to do this but can’t find a way out of their position, permission. Why is he balking?
This makes me think that the GOP establishment is more conflicted about this than they’re letting on. They know their voters and while it’s obviously imperative that they at least try to attract latinos, they are having a very hard time figuring out how to do it without causing an uprising. After all, they’ve just recently had to slack off on gay rights and I think they may be concerned that this will be a bridge too far. They’re going to have to do a very delicate dance. And it looks to me as if Rubio, who should be the best on to lead it, has two left feet.
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