Polls like this would seem to reinforce the argument I made late last week when I observed that rallying around the calls to abolish ICE could end up backfiring on Democrats. Yes, there is some support in the poll for this kind proposal among Democrats and one can make the argument that it is useful as a slogan to rally the base in advance of the elections, but even there support for the idea falls far short of being a majority. The more important numbers for Democrats to look at, I would maintain, are those that show majorities of both Republicans and Independents opposing the idea. This gap leaves Democratic candidates in anything other than a deeply blue state or district in danger of being tarred with the argument that their party is supporting ideas such as “Abolish ICE” that, according to Republicans at least, would mean weakening the Federal Government’s ability to enforce immigration laws and sounds as if they are essentially advocating for an end to the enforcement of immigration laws. That’s exactly how Trump and Republicans are framing the debate right now, of course, and if they succeed then Democrats could find that they’ve given Republicans a potent weapon come November.
ICE under Trump is an abominable weapon being used freely against immigrant families, and it's only a matter of time before it's unleashed against Americans. But right now Trump and the GOP can deflect that by saying "Dems are for illegal immigration, we're against it."
The issue isn't ICE as much as it is the fact that ICE is controlled by Trump.
"Abolish ICE" isn't a position that's going to help Dems politically, even if you can make the case that it's morally right. The reality is that it's another windmill to tilt at when the problem is Trump.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment