Thread: Immigration tearing away at Democrats

November 12, 2007 6:00 a.m.

Immigration tearing away at Democrats

Tougher tone could offset GOP attacks, politicos say
By Peter WallstenLos Angeles TimesAdvertisement

WASHINGTON – Top Democratic elected officials and strategists are engaged in an internal debate over toughening the party’s image on illegal immigration, with some worried that Democrats’ relatively welcoming stance makes them vulnerable to GOP attacks in the 2008 election.

Advocates of the 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.

A number of New York Democrats won local elections in part by opposing a plan by Gov. Eliot Spitzer to give driver’s licenses to illegal 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.

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 and a requirement that employers verify the legal status of workers. The proposal does not include measures to create a path to citizenship for millions of illegal workers, which in the past have been supported by Democrats nationally.

With polls showing wide-ranging discontent with the government’s handling of immigration, some Democrats are arguing that there are areas in which the party can toughen its image without moving too far away from its traditionally pro-immigration leanings – such as supporting heightened security at the Mexico border, opposing benefits for illegal immigrants and pushing for harsher penalties against businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

“If Democrats turn a blind eye to the public concerns about immigration, it would be a mistake,â€

[quote]“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.â€

Anyone who changes their mind about any of the dem candidates for president is crazy!!!!