WaPo opinion: Democrats must seize the immigration issue

[pampango]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/05/AR2010080503750.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Memo to the president and congressional Democrats: Why are you writing off the midterm elections? Republicans across the country -- from Massachusetts to California, Virginia to Texas -- are using Arizona and illegal immigration as an electoral battle cry and have cowed you into playing weak defense.

All the talk is of how the Republicans are going to win big, and your only comeback seems to be: Yeah, but wait until 2012, when we clobber you with all these Hispanics. That sounds pretty speculative to me, and I'm Hispanic. It doesn't help if you are up for reelection either.

Americans overwhelmingly favor some sort of legalization of the estimated nearly 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country. Latinos, meanwhile, overwhelmingly support enforcement to stop more from coming, but you have to deliver on legalization, too.

As policy, you have done a good job improving enforcement. Politically, however, you get little credit for it with swing voters because you are afraid to embrace and claim it, and so you can't get enough popular support to force Republicans to move on the second half of the package: legalization.

You need to claim that you are moving on both enforcement and legalization as one. Seize the issue. Frame it. And then see how well the Republicans play defense in November.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Democrats need to embrace employer sanctions. eom

[joeybee12]

2. Not a surprise, Dems always play weak-kneed defense...

...they rarely control the message.