Republicans are betting it all on aging white Trump voters
By Greg Sargent May 17 at 10:40 AM
In certain ways, the battle over the “dreamers” perfectly captures what has become of the Trump-era GOP. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has dramatically promised that President Trump and Republicans will work to create a way for these young immigrants to stay in the United States, as part of an effort to nudge the party toward a conservatism that has more appeal to younger voters and to a diversifying electorate. But Trump and many Republicans have instead embraced an agenda shaped around emphatic, full-blown nativism and xenophobia, bringing that push (such as it was) to a screeching halt. Neatly capturing this, social media is exploding over Trump’s suggestion yesterday (though the context makes it somewhat vague) that some of the immigrants he’s deporting are “animals.”
We are now being treated to a striking spectacle: Ryan and his top lieutenants are working overtime to squash an effort by Republicans to force a vote in the House to provide the dreamers with a path to legalization.
Vulnerable Republicans in the House are pushing a discharge petition that would compel a vote on measures that would grant the dreamers legal status, one of them packaged with fortifications to border security. More than 20 Republicans have signed the petition, meaning that if organizers can get a handful more, it would pass, since Democrats will support it — forcing a full House vote on whether the dreamers will be protected or remain in limbo. Make no mistake: Such a full vote — on a measure legalizing the dreamers in exchange for border security — probably would be successful.
Why don’t GOP leaders want this vote? Apparently because allowing these young immigrants who were brought here as children through no fault of their own to get right with the law, and work and study in America, would depress the conservative base. The Post reports that GOP leaders are delivering this stark message to the rank and file:
Signing the discharge petition and paving the way for passage of a moderate immigration bill could hurt Republicans in November’s elections by depressing conservative turnout and upending leadership’s plans to focus on tax cuts and other GOP successes.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/05/17/republicans-are-betting-it-all-on-aging-white-trump-voters/
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