Thread: Obama vs. Arizona -- the politics of a lawsuit

Jul 07, 2010

Obama vs. Arizona -- the politics of a lawsuit
09:49 AM

Attorneys will now spend months and maybe years arguing the legal aspects of the Obama administration's lawsuit against Arizona's immigration law.

In the meantime, election candidates will be examining immigration's political impact, starting with the elections on Nov. 2.

As many Democrats look to the growing Hispanic vote, many Republicans will try to paint their opponents as soft on illegal immigration, citing public opinion polls showing support for the Arizona law.

"Obviously, the White House is tone deaf on Western politics," Arizona-based political strategist Wes Gullett told Politico. "While a lot of people wish that our law wouldn't go into effect, for the administration to sue on this is crazy. It is just a complete political loser."

Gullett, who opposes the Arizona law, is a former aide to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a prominent supporter of the legislation that gives law enforcement officers more authority to ask people about citizenship.

California-based Democratic strategist Chris Lehane told The Hill that Republicans could use the lawsuit as a "wedge issue" in many congressional districts this year, but a growing number of Hispanics see the Arizona law -- and GOP support for it -- as racial profiling.

"When you take the long view and think about what those districts are going to look like in five to 10 years, it's pretty difficult to find a place where Latinos are not a growing part of the population," Lehane said.

There is also a lot of debate within both parties about the best way to approach immigration.

One unnamed Democratic aide criticized the Obama Justice Department's lawsuit in The Hill, saying: "This could kill us in several critical districts -- nice timing."

Meanwhile, some conservatives worry that the Republican approach will alienate a growing segment of voters. Richard Land, with the South Baptist Convention, told NPR News that, "if the new conservative coalition is going to be a governing coalition, it's going to have to have a significant number of Hispanics in it."

"That's dictated by demographics," Land added, "and you don't get large numbers of Hispanics to support you when you're engaged in anti-Hispanic immigration rhetoric."
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Is there anything at all that Hispanics (legal or illegal) and their supporters DON'T consider racial profiling?