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A Fine Line for Democrats on Border
Issues
Some think the party can toughen its image on undocumented immigration
without straying from traditional positions.
WASHINGTON (By
Peter Wallsten, LA Times) November 11, 2007 —
Top Democratic elected officials and strategists are engaged in an internal
debate over toughening the party's image on undocumented immigration, with
some worried that Democrats' relatively welcoming stance makes them
vulnerable to GOP attacks in the 2008 election.
Advocates of such a change cite local and state election results last week
in Virginia and New York, where Democrats used sharper language and
get-tough proposals to stave off Republican efforts to paint the party as
weak on the issue.
In Virginia, for instance, where Democrats took control of the state Senate,
one high profile victory came in the Washington suburbs, where the winner
distributed mailings in the campaign's closing days proclaiming his
opposition to in-state college tuition for undocumented immigrants.
The party's calibration could also be seen in New York, where a number of
Democrats won local elections in part by opposing a plan by Democratic Gov.
Eliot Spitzer to issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, and in
the presidential campaign, in which party front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton has struggled to explain whether she supports the Spitzer plan or
not.
In Congress, a group of conservative Democrats, led by freshman Rep. Heath
Shuler of North Carolina, introduced legislation last week calling for more
Border Patrol agents, heightened surveillance and additional requirements
that employers verify the legal status of workers.
The proposal does not include measures to create a path to citizenship for
millions of undocumented workers, measures that recently had been supported
by Democrats nationally.
With polls showing broad discontent with the government's handling of
immigration, some Democrats argue that the party can toughen its image
without moving too far away from its traditionally pro-immigration leanings
— for example, by supporting heightened security at the Mexico border,
opposing benefits for undocumented immigrants, and pushing for harsher
penalties against businesses that hire undocumented workers.
"If Democrats turn a blind eye to the public concerns about immigration, it
would be a mistake," said Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), who won re-election
last year in his conservative district by taking a hard line against
undocumented immigration while backing what he said were "practical" ideas
for dealing with the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.
"If Democrats are seen as strongly supporting the protection of our borders
and not supporting a vast array of welfare benefits for people here
illegally, and combine that with a responsible approach toward earned
citizenship for those who have been in our country for a number of years,
then it can be a winning issue for Democrats."
The internal debate has grown emotional in recent days, boiling over on
Friday during a tense encounter on the House floor between Rep. Joe Baca
(D-Rialto), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Majority
Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).
The caucus was upset because some House Democrats had backed a Republican
measure protecting employers that impose certain English-only rules — the
latest in what Baca called a series of frustrations with the party
leadership's approach to immigration.
"We're tired of people trying to scapegoat the immigrants or Hispanics as a
platform," Baca said. "Republicans have done it, and Democrats have followed
. . . because they're afraid they're going to lose their elections. But we
got elected to represent all communities, not to vote based on whether we're
going to get reelected."
The party's dilemma comes in the wake of the Senate's defeat this summer of
a major immigration overhaul that would have created a path to citizenship
for undocumented workers.
The issue has proved vexing for Republicans as well, with most of the
party's conservative base pushing for measures to strengthen the border.
President Bush, meanwhile, backed the Senate bill, and his former political
advisor Karl Rove has long supported a moderate stance on immigration as
part of a strategy to lure Hispanic voters to the GOP.
Many Republicans believe the party's attempts last year to paint Democrats
as weak on undocumented immigration — including television ads that some
critics saw as playing on ethnic stereotypes — damaged the GOP's image among
Hispanic voters and helped put Democrats in control of Congress.
But Republicans have signaled their intention to make the issue a central
focus again. One GOP official said last week that the party planned
television ads targeting Clinton on the driver's license issue. And former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of the leading contenders for the GOP
presidential nomination, began airing an ad opposing driver's licenses and
benefits for undocumented immigrants. The ad begins with Romney saying: "We
all know Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have it wrong on undocumented
immigration."
Now, Democratic strategists, examining the party's need to retain seats in
conservative areas and win electoral college votes in the heartland, say
Democrats will lose ground if they do not push back against Republican
attacks on immigration. Some say Democrats nearly lost a special
congressional election in Massachusetts last month because the candidate,
Niki Tsongas, did not adopt tough immigration rhetoric.
"It's very important for Democratic candidates not to allow Republicans to
define them on the immigration issue," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.),
chairman of the committee that designs the Democrats' House election
strategy.
"What we've learned is that candidates who address this issue with a strong
and clear manner were able to do just fine in addressing the voters'
concerns," he said. "But those who left their field open allowed Republicans
to falsely define their position."
A recent memo by one senior Democratic pollster, Stanley Greenberg, warned
that voter discontent over immigration is salient among many potential
Democratic voters — specifically among less educated voters, African
Americans, and blacks and whites in rural areas who view undocumented
immigration as an economic issue.
"Voters want control of the borders and workplace and re-creating an
immigration system that works and oppose driver's licenses for undocumented
immigrants, positions supported by about two-thirds of the country," the
memo said. "For them, that is the starting point, the common sense of the
issue. If political leaders do not start there, they are not likely to be
heard on other steps."
Greenberg's advice echoed arguments offered last year in a strategy memo
from a moderate Democratic group, Third Way. It advised the party's
candidates to be tough and fair — but to avoid sounding overly sympathetic
to undocumented immigrants at the expense of average voters who believe they
are paying for benefits and bearing other burdens of a broken system.
"Compassion and justice for undocumented immigrants ends when taxpayer
interests begin," the group said.
Several Democrats said last week that Clinton's difficulty with the driver's
license issue, which first arose at a candidates debate Oct. 30, illustrated
the very struggle many in the party will face next year as they balance a
complicated policy issue against the emotional responses of voters. Clinton
lauded Spitzer but stopped short of fully backing his plan.
Fellow Democrats accused her of trying to have it both ways, while
Republicans, such as party presidential front-runner and former New York
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, pounced on the issue and declared their
opposition to giving licenses to undocumented immigrants.
"As soon as I saw that come up at the debate, I thought, 'Oh, this is a bad
issue for Democrats,' " said California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los
Angeles).
Nuñez added that he thought Democrats should pick their shots and probably
avoid advocating driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.
"I'd rather have a Democrat in the White House than get the driver's
licenses passed," he said.
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