[quote]I just got back from a great panel discussion at the Center for American Progress (CAP) about getting immigration reform done in 2010. The discussion, which happened in front of a packed house at CAP, discussed the prospects for reform this year both from a political and a policy perspective.

The panelists were Nico Pitney, National Editor of Huffington Post; Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga , Founder and Editor of Daily Kos; MarÃ*a Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; and Andrea Nill, Immigration Blogger and Researcher, Think Progress.

While Representative Luis Gutierrez was slated to come, he got held up in a vote and was unable to make it. (I know, a lawmaker that is actually legislating – gasp!).

Faiz Shakir, Editor-in-Chief of Think Progress kicked things off, by introducing the panel and asking the first in a series of questions to help shape the discussion.

Each panelist had a unique perspective on why passing immigration reform in 2010 is possible.

Markos Moulitsas drove home the electoral politics of the issue, noting that unlike other issues (ie: health care), immigration reform was never going to be a straight partisan vote.

“If this was just about having 60 votes in the Senate, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.â€