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Jon Ralston on Politics
Politicizing immigration
By Jon Ralston / Staff Writer

If ever there has been a more cynical exploitation of an issue than the shameless thumping of the illegal immigration drum this year, I can't imagine what it would be.

In some cases (Rep. Jim Gibbons), they take a kernel, distort it into a core belief and then use good visuals, good music and good verbiage to smash an opponent (Dina Titus). In others (Rep. Jon Porter), they have nothing much to attack on so do a cookie-cutter approach to anyone who voices support for comprehensive immigration reform (Tessa Hafen).

Yes, the two examples of bad behavior I cite are Republicans. So be it. But they are not just Republicans; they are GOP House members, who have the luxury of voting only for a border security measure. And who is not for border security?

That's the easy part. The rest is nuanced. What do you do with 12 million illegals? Do you deport all of them, give some a path to citizenship and others a boot from the country, or just have a guest-worker program and never allow illegals to become legal?

The Democrats have not been much better, and there is an argument that they are getting their just deserts. After pandering to Hispanics for so long and having election season love affairs with minorities who become off-season lost loves, their efforts to genuflect now to a diverse and angry Latino populace are proving problematic.

Never has a political needle been more difficult to thread. So Republicans, seeing the poll numbers on illegal immigration, have decided not to try. For Gibbons and Porter, this is about taking an issue their polling shows is as important as almost any to voters and creating a classic wedge between themselves and their opponents.

Gibbons has pounded Titus for supporting driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and implying she has changed her position. The ad he has on is brutal and my guess is very effective, with requisite scary music and ominous verbiage. Only problem: It's not true.

Titus has never cast a vote for driver's licenses for illegals. And all she has ever said is she would consider it if Congress ever passes comprehensive illegal immigration reform. The ad makes it sound as if she has supported it and was forced by a newspaper to backtrack — not so.

Porter is using the issue against Hafen because she made the mistake of saying what she really thought at a debate this year. Hafen described the House bill as narrow-minded, a view among many Democrats and Republicans who think immigration reform is more than just border security.

So Porter has been bragging about his support for that measure and pounding Hafen for mentioning she supports comprehensive immigration reform contained in the U.S. Senate bill. This just happens to be the same measure supported by the guy in all those Hafen ads with his arm around Porter — President Bush.

All of this tells us little about the candidates and even less about the issue. The Republicans love to bruit about the word "amnesty" to pummel Democrats. But the fundamental problem with the immigration debate is defining what it means. One person's amnesty is another's path to citizenship or guest-worker program.

If you really listen to the GOP rhetoric, their attacks on Democrats suggest that amnesty means their opponents support some kind of forgiveness or absolution for past sins. If so, then the natural conclusion is the Republicans support deporting all of the 12 million illegals. And almost none really do.

But if you can get the public energized to think that you are tough and your opponent is not on this complex, nuanced issue, that's all that matters. Isn't it?

In Business commentator Jon Ralston also hosts the news discussion program "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE, publishes the daily e-mail newsletter "RalstonFlash.com" and writes columns and a political notebook for the Las Vegas Sun. To subscribe to Flash, go to www.RalstonFlash.com, or call 990-2550. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or by e-mail at ralston@vegas.com.