President Obama’s senior staff is reaching out to Republicans before the next congressional session begins in January, in an effort to secure support for the DREAM Act.
The proposed DREAM Act prescribes a mix of civil fines, educational requirements, and military duty as a way to transition into official US citizenship those under the age of 35 designated under “illegal” immigration status.
This allows the “enforcement” types their due, and balances with the very real need politicians have, to “do something positive” about the 2 million or so illegal immigrants that this bill is aimed at.
It’s also a way for the left and right wing to make sure they don’t offend the powerful Hispanic and Latino voting blocs that can make or break them in places like Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and even New York.
The greatest benefactor of this would be Sarah Palin. It stands to reason that any Republican or Democratic move here is part of the chess match between an incumbent Obama and a vastly popular Sarah Palin. Congress handling the issue before the presidential elections benefits her because she won’t have to think about it tactically.
Political options are:
- A. Republicans let the bill pass, then sabotage it. Or sabotage consequent large scale immigration reform. Reap the rewards in 2012.
- B. Let Rush Limbaugh shoot it down like he did in 2007. Reap the rewards in 2012.
- C. Do some back room dealing with Harry Reid. Reap the rewards in 2012.
- D. Do nothing. Give up a trump card for what?
Obama promised he’d do something to move forward on Immigration Reform when he first started, but the Health Care debate took so long and shed so much political blood in the 2010 Mid Term Elections it wasn’t worth it then.
Does anyone reeeeeally think the Democrats are going to try another “risky” move in the name of Immigration Reform and fuel the “Tea Party” conservatives to a landslide victory in the 2012 Presidential Election?
And, whoever said the DREAM Act was immigration reform anyways? Does it touch on the issues of Temporary Workers, Permanent Residence (a.k.a. Green Card), Family-based immigration? Nope. How handy.
Sure, an LA Times article mentions:
Democratic strategists also see the bill as a potential litmus test for Republican lawmakers on immigration reform well in advance of the 2012 election. In the recent midterm election, exit polls showed that Latino voters turned out in increased numbers for Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada after Republican opponent Sharron Angle riled the Latino community with political ads that showed images of menacing, tattooed Latinos.
OK, so more Latinos showed up in a STATE race as a response to Sharron Angle’s thoughtless PR moves. That’s not going to matter now that the Tea Party learned the “Sharron Angle” lesson. Traditional Republicans wouldn’t have stumbled on the the same mistake their Tea Party cousins made.
To apply the lesson to the 2012 Presidential Elections, the traditional Republican Party just has to play it smooth toward the Hispanic and Latino voting bloc.
Oh but wait Sarah Palin is already dialing this in with some slick celebri-political PR: Her daughter Bristol “the pistol” Palin, of “Dancing With The Stars” fame is starring aside Mark Ballas, who is of course, you guessed it, of partial Mexican heritage! Viva Ballas!
Born in Houston, Texas, his paternal grandparents George Charles Ballas and Maria Luisa Marulanda Ballas are of Mexican, Spanish and Greek descent.
Heck, his grand-dad even invented the “Weed Eater”. Ha that’s worth a few million votes right there, I had one of those growing up.
How much do you want to bet the press aches for Bristol and Mark to be “romantically involved” or otherwise sweet in the public eye’s rumor mill? Timing’s not perfect but it’s great political PR no matter what, there they are in each other’s arms and in America’s hearts.
The poor ratings from April for the show have now jumped to a stunning 21 million viewers. Advantage Palin.
What’s Obama doing meanwhile? -getting cooked at the G-20 with many thanks to Ben Bernanke. But hey that’s what Saturday Night Live is for.
Not much focus is left for Immigration Reform. See how many distractions there are? LOL.
So OK, even with Sarah Palin coasting on new found political windfalls of her peers winning big, her daughter dancing it up, Harry Reid is no clown. This is the issue on his plate and he’s got to hit a home run.
He *was* a freaking political assassin conditions permitting, but the most he can do now is try to bring Immigration Reform via the DREAM Act, to a Senate vote after Thanksgiving. Yeah right. Sound possible?
Nonetheless, -Reid is down with quite a few Republicans -much more than anyone publicly knows or understands. Former Real Estate Commissioner of Nevada hangs with him all the time. And she’s ultra-right wing as they get. Part of the whole “Republicans For Harry Reid” movement that probably had more to do with him beating Sharron Angle than Sharron Angle’s mistakes.
Remember, Nevada is a “Swing State” now. Think any intelligent Nevadan politico is going to give up the Senate Majority Leader position? It’s far too important for the State to let Conservative Republican ideals get in the way.
This is one of the few areas where the Tea Party kids might eventually get wise, mostly by staying quiet and letting the traditional Republicans work their magic with Harry, THEN step in later with the sledgehammer. We’ll see how it goes after Thanksgiving.
Suffice to say, real immigration reforms covering all aspects of our nation’s current laws regarding the subject, are unlikely, -I don’t give the DREAM Act much of a chance either, but if it does pass, you can look to Harry Reid lasting through the Presidency of Sarah Palin without encountering any real issues, it’ll be a smooth ride. For him.
With the Tea Party on the scene in January for this issue, there’s probably more than one republican politician who’s gonna be thinking “dang it’s getting downright bi-polar up in here“. This song can help, wait for the chorus.
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