[b] http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26933.html

Health fight arouses immigration battle

Regardless of how the stormy health care debate ends, the lingering question will be whether the rest of President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda was swept away in the political debris.


One priority that has become entangled in the messy health care discussion is immigration, a reliable lightning rod for conservatives who habitually try to confuse any issue by playing to xenophobes’ fears.


In recent town hall meetings and media interviews, conservative Republicans falsely claimed illegal immigrants would get free health insurance under the president’s plan. Though blatantly untrue, the statement has taken on a life of its own and compounded headaches for some Democrats who are wavering on Obama’s health care proposal.


But the renewed immigrant-bashing has served to strengthen the determination of immigration reform advocates to advance their own initiative after the health care issue is resolved and to not let their bill’s destiny be determined by the twisted politics of health care.


Both issues present the most vexing dilemmas for politicians, but there is a key strategic difference between the two: The battle over health insurance has become fiercely partisan, while the immigration debate has previously allied Republicans and Democrats, business and labor, and other unusual partners.


Republicans also have come to realize they may be better off dealing with immigration and getting it off the table than being blamed for the angry anti-immigrant rhetoric that turned Latino voters off from the GOP ticket in 2008.


Democratic leaders predict Republicans will co-sponsor the immigration bill, something that has eluded Obama on health care and other major legislation he advanced this year.


“There’s strong interest from the Republican side in coming up with a balanced, down-the-middle approach on immigration,â€