Republicans who favor passing the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill ought to answer a simple question: If this bill is so good and necessary for Republicans, why are Democrats salivating to see it passed?
Sen. Lindsey Graham won’t answer that question. Instead, he’ll blame last year’s narrow presidential defeat on the GOP’s alleged “demographic death spiral.”
According to Sen. Graham, “If we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016. We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community in my view is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run in my view.”
It matters a great deal who Republicans run in 2016. The facts are that the Obama campaign targeted and brought out its voters to a granular level not seen before in politics. He bought enough votes, he kept the cheating just viable enough in swing states by blocking voter ID laws, and he scared enough voters, and he retained his world historic candidacy just enough to beat a Republican whose record and rhetoric were far less than inspiring and whose organization never matched Obama’s. Obama had the “Cave,” which worked, while Romney had ORCA, which failed. A better, more inspiring candidate with a clear message, with a better and smarter, more aggressive ground game can win. Republicans should get behind a real leader in 2016, not yet another moderate who seems to be embarrassed to be a Republican. At one time, Sen. Marco Rubio appeared to be just such a leader. That seems a long time ago now.
Graham and Rubio could do their country, their party and themselves very well by insisting that security comes before legalization. But they’re choosing not to do that. Why?
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