The New York Times has an article today focusing on the fine line that candidates in both parties are having to walk between seeming to lenient or too harsh on the immigration issue. I think they just want it to go away, but obviously the public cares about this issue and wants change.
An ABC News poll conducted in September found that 54 percent of Americans believed that illegal immigrants do more to hurt the country than help; 34 percent said they do more to help; 6 percent said they neither help nor hurt; 7 percent were unsure.
“While agreeing with us on policy, people are nevertheless extraordinarily angry,†said Mark Mellman, a Democratic strategist. “The tone of the Democrats consistently fails to reflect that anger. In that sense, we’re out of sync with the public.â€
Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, compared voter sentiment to the growing desire even among Democrats in the early 1990s for an overhaul of the welfare system, pointing to exasperation about illegal immigration especially among certain groups — those with only a high school education, African-Americans and people in rural areas.
It will be interesting to see what Congress gets done in 2008, if anything, and how this issue ultimately plays out in the campaign.
