I have in the past pointed out on many occasions how the Democrats were always blaming someone or something else on their election defeats. They often would not face the facts that their candidates and positions were often out of step with the electorate: they had, and even courted, a minority constituency.
To some extent this changed in 2006, they ran candidates, especially in the South, that were not so far left: And they won. On the other hand, Republicans lost touch with their constituencies and lost many races as a result. All of this resulted in a net Deomcratic pickup and slim majorities in the House and Senate. Thank God we didn't have to go through another year with accusations of election fraud. Because, you know, there is no fraud if Democrats win by definition.
As we approach 2008, I see some sign that now it's Republicans who are exhibiting delusional behavior. Take the issue of Immigration for example. Before the elections, Republicans, especially in the House, were taking a very hard line. With Democrats now in power things have changed.
According to a Senate Democratic aide, Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have already opened "preliminary" discussions with two House members over the revised legislation. Negotiators are considering scrapping a complicated proposal that would require an estimated 7 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States to jump across the border before returning to apply to become citizens.
That provision would also mean that illegals in the country for less than two years would not be guaranteed a slot in a guest-worker program.
Congress also may nix a border fence that many conservatives say is needed to stop the flow of illegals.
Many Republicans oppose this bill and call it Amnesty. They also say that supporting such a bill will hurt them in 2008. But will it?
There is no doubt that many, including myself, felt the electorate was very concerned about illegal immigration. And they were. But most people were turned off by the hard line the House Republicans took
In Arizona, for instance Randy Graf Republican challenger for the AZ-08 seat in the House should have won his race if people were so hard over about immigration, but they weren't
In Arizona, where Graf lost to moderate Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, voters took a stand against illegal immigration, approving four propositions tightening restrictions on the undocumented.
Still, Graf lost, as did Republican J.D. Hayworth, an Arizona congressman who had also pushed hard for tougher immigration enforcement.
Graf's loss is a signal that voters don't want complex immigration issues reduced to "a 30-second political ad," Gaete said.
"The electorate spoke, and it wasn't just Hispanic voters voting against him," Gaete said. "It was American voters saying we need a more expansive conversation about immigration."
Clearly.
In my opinion, immigrants to this country should not have to wait years to gain access to citizenship. I think if it was a more streamlined process that was responsive to the applicants needs and our need for security, you wouldn't have as big a problem.
Yes, we need to take the time to do a background check. Yes, we need quotas to manage the influx, but that shouldn't take 5 or 10 years. One year at most seems reasonable and that's what we should strive for.
We also need a guest-worker program.
And if a person has been working and being a good citizen, even if illegal, I have no problem with them being a candidate for citizenship. Yeah, I know it "rewards" illegal behavior, but call it a penalty for being so damn tardy on dealing with immigrants to begin with.
But I am hard line on the english requirement. Immigrants should be very strongly encouraged to assimilate. That has been our tradition and it has worked out well. It is why we do not have the same problems as Europe with unassimilated immigrants causing problems: especially Muslim immigrants; but Hispanic immigrants could be just as big a problem if we let it happen.
And we can't let that happen.
If Republicans want to get reelected in 2008, give up the delusion that what the people "really" want is a hard line on immigration.
What they want is reasonableness about immigration.
