Thread: To our columnist, immigration isn’t everything. It’s the

MUGGER: ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT’S ME, MUGGER
To our columnist, immigration isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.
By Russ Smith
mug1988@aol.com

During the past six months I’ve had an ongoing debate with a childhood friend, now a hedge fund manager in Midtown, over how dominant the issue of illegal immigration will be in next November’s presidential election. Arthur is convinced it’ll rank low among voters’ concerns—way behind national security, Iraq, taxes, health care and the real estate market—and that an elitist media that is mostly in favor of whomever the Democratic candidate is ginning its prominence up. His certainty bewilders me, because we’re in agreement on President Bush’s original immigration reform proposal, which Republicans cowardly scuttled, and also favor Sen. John McCain as the GOP nominee, despite his many flaws, not least his partial capitulation to the Mexican demonizing right-wing base of the party.

As for the bias of influential daily newspapers in favor of a lenient policy, I’d counter that any time The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post agree on a subject it’s worth taking note.

Is it too far-fetched to envision escalating “send them all homeâ€

Emanuel is exactly right:

"It’s telling that Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus chairman and perhaps the savviest, smartest and most pragmatic politician in Congress, is far ahead of the curve on the perils that the illegal immigration imbroglio could pose for his party this November. Speaking to the Washington Post’s columnist E.J. Dionne recently, Emanuel said, “This is a debate in which the rest of the country is left out. This is a values issue: How does a superpower not have control over its border? You have to enforce the rule of law as it relates to the border, and you have to enforce the rule of law as it relates to benefits. Then the American people will be open to resolving the issue as it relates to what industry needs and what immigrant advocates need.â€

Ugh.

Now I know why I stopped reading the New York Press.