Doing the right thing is the best negotiating stance
by digby
Simon Maloy at Salon breaks down the latest polling on Immigration in anticipation of President Obama’s big announcement tonight:
USA Today and Princeton Survey Research … provide us with our first post-election look at the public’s stance on unilateral immigration action, and the results are pretty unsurprising: the country is split almost down the middle, and support for Obama’s proposal breaks down along partisan lines. Given the circumstances, that’s fairly decent news for the White House.
The USA Today poll’s question was curiously worded (more on that in a bit), but the survey found that 42 percent of Americans want the White House to act immediately on immigration, while 46 percent want the White House to wait. Democrats favor immediate action by a huge 60-28 percent margin, Republicans favor waiting by an even huger 76-17 percent, and independents are split 44-46 in slight favor of delay.
If I’m in the White House, then I’m reassured by this poll. After the child migrant crisis during the summer and Obama’s decision to delay taking executive action, the president’s credibility on immigration took a big hit, and for a while it looked like the public was starting to turn away from meaningful immigration reform. Obama’s approval rating on immigration as an issue tanked to 31 percent, according to Gallup. There were also dips in public support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Gallup hasn’t polled Obama’s approval on immigration since then, but public support for a pathway to citizenship has bounced back. The fact that Obama has fought the executive action issue almost to a draw would seem to indicate that he’s come back somewhat from the summer’s immigration doldrums.
He knew there would be a shitstorm either way and recognized that in such a situation it’s better to do the right thing, for both moral and practical reasons, than it is to try to please the beltway with some bogus excuse about bipartisanship. That is a very good thing.
Republicans terrified that Latinos are going to make them a permanent minority party. Right -wingers just don’t like Latinos. Their media under the likes if Laura Ingraham has persuaded them that immigration reform is a stealthy way to make “illegals” into Democratic voters. Case in point:
Bachmann to Post: immigrants given new protections by the president could become “illiterate” Democratic voters
— Robert Costa (@costareports) November 19, 2014
There is nothing you can do to change these things before taking action. So, Democrats should just do what they can to help human beings and let the chips fall where they may.
The president’s Executive Order is probably not going to be everything we might hope. But he could have succumbed to the Villagers and the Republicans and made a case that the election showed that the nation wasn’t ready for Immigration Reform or that he wants to give the “new congress” a chance to work something out. Advisors like David Axelrod were saying publicly that’s what he should do. Instead, he’s saying I’m doing this and if you don’t like it, pass a bill I can sign and I’ll rescind it. He’s not foreclosing compromise he’s just saying that he’s not going to wait any longer for them to do what they keep saying they are going to do and never actually do it. I don’t know how it’s going to work politically but he has nothing to lose by trying it. And actual humans will benefit. Good.
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