Picking Another Fight Before The First One's Finished

Steve M. wisely points out that going after immigration reform right now on top of health care reform will only give the Teabaggers more ammunition to spread their special brand of hate.

Really? That's going to defuse controversy? That's going to make rabid immigrant-bashers happy? "Those people we hate who shouldn't get health care because they're illegal? They're not going to be illegal anymore, so they're going to get health care! We feel so much better now!"

Yes, yes, I know what the conventional wisdom is: that hardcore opposition to immigration reform is the cause of a very small group of disgruntled right-wing throwbacks. They may have scuttled the Bush administration's attempts to get an immigration bill, but their electoral clout is actually minimal -- a pro-immigration-reform candidate won the GOP presidential nomination, for heaven's sake, and Tom Tancredo's presidential bid tanked.

I don't buy that. The midterms are going to be low-turnout -- and this is even more motivation for the already extraordinarily motivated voters who are now threatening GOP vengeance at the polls. It's not going to sit well with Hillary Clinton beer-and-a-shot Democrats, either, especially in a recession.

And he's got a point.  Let's face it, 90% of the opposition to health care reform is "we're giving stuff to brown people while I'm still unemployed, f'ck that."   Actually doing that will not make the teabaggers any less baggy.


However, I will point out that you can't really solve the jobs issue without immigration reform of some kind down the road at some point.  But Steve's right:  jobs and the economy (and to 95% of America, they are the same issue) are where the Dems need to concentrate on.