Yes, a lot of what follows is the usual GOP "establishment" timidity and fear, leavened with a desire for "affordable labor" and such. But they do have at least somewhat of a point, even if they, and a lot of you, don't fully realize it:
Donald Trump has galvanized the Republican field with his rhetoric on illegal immigration, but GOP observers in early caucus/primary States think he's gone too far.
According to Politico's weekly caucus of top strategists in Iowa and New Hampshire, seven out of ten Republicans say they have heard more than enough about Trump's plan, which includes the deportation of [thirty] million people and the end to birthright citizenship.
New Hampshire GOP insiders in particular have a harsh view of the plan — 85% of them think it is harmful to the party. Nearly two-thirds of Iowa Republicans agree.
And a full 97% of Democrat insiders said the plan is harmful for the GOP.
"He's solidly put an anchor around the neck of our party, and we'll sink because of it," an Iowa Republican told Politico.
"Enough already," another Iowa Republican said. "This kind of garbage only appeals to the hard core … while alienating the soft middle that we must win in order to take the presidency."
A New Hampshire Republican described Trump's plans as "harmful to the party, the brand, and the future of our country. What's disappointing is the speed in which other candidates follow his lead. He's forced that to be standard operation." [emphasis added]
That's an odd read on the political landscape of this issue, it seems to me, since two-thirds of Americans consistently and adamantly oppose illegal immigration and amnesty and "birthright citizenship" and favor closing the border and deporting those who have broken our immigration laws by coming here illegally. Three quarters rejected Obamnesty when The One forced it on us last fall. It was most of what fueled the GOP's blowout midterm election triumph. So clearly a hardline stance on illegal immigration is not an "anchor around the neck of the party," but something the electorate at large avidly wants.
It's not that position that is the hazard, but the way Trump is going out of his way to depict it. And, though a lot of you are not going to like it - hell, I certainly don't, but it's my duty - I have to point out some inconvenient facts. Though all thirty million illegals in this country absolutely, positively should be deported, the reality is that's never going to happen. There are just too many of them. No Congress, even one crammed to overflowing with Tea Partiers, would ever appropriate hundreds of billions of dollars to try and round up a tenth of the total overall population of this country for forcible displacement, even if they could all be located, which they couldn't. The optics from such an operation alone would be horrendous, and would destroy public support for border control and national sovereignty. It would be the propaganda godsend of all time to the Democrats. And it would come in pursuit of an objective that is functionally unobtainable.
Trump is overpromising, in other words. There's no way he could ever deliver on his plan. And consider what a President Trump would do when the next Congress rejected his mass deportation bill. Would he abide by the constitutional limitations on his office or would he pull an Obama and proceed with it anyway by Executive Decree? And would Tea Partiers recoil in horror at that despotic power grab or roar with approval because it was "their guy" who was doing it for policy ends they support?
Distilled still further, have Tea Party Trumpsters fully thought through the implications of where the Trump immigration plan would lead? Because I don't think they realize that it wouldn't take us where they think it would.
And that, plus the trademark boorish way in which Trump is touting his plan, does indeed run the risk of taking a winning issue for Republicans and turning it into a disaster - precisely as I believe The Donald intends.
And we, frankly, cannot afford to indulge in such belligerent fantasism. Our system of government is not, after all, designed and was never intended for huge, drastic policy shifts for which public consensus does not exist. That's why it has, up until the "red dawn" of The Age Of The One, been so stable. Rather, our system of checks and balances dictates incrementalism. Yes, we push for our agenda, but knowing that we're not going to get everything we want and will have to, yes, make compromises, and win what we can, and then come back for more the next time. On immigration, this means a President Walker rescinding Obamnesty on day one, taking the straitjacket off of the Border Patrol and resuming the vigorous enforcement of immigration laws already on the books, providing them the tools with which to do so, and deporting what illegals we can as quickly as is practical. That's a pretty ambitious about-face from the incumbent border erasure policy, one that the public does and will support, and one that doesn't hand the Left visual fodder for "concentration camp" memes from here to eternity.
What matters at this point is not the end goal, but that we get immigration policy moving back in the right direction. The Trump immigration plan and its style of presentation is an obstacle to that process, not a boon.
Besides, why do y'all want to feed this guy's incoming rant?:
As lawmakers and immigration activists prepare for Pope Francis' visit to the United States, Roll Call reports that they expect his arrival and message to inspire members of Congress and their constituents will be to revamp immigration laws.
According to Roll Call, since becoming the head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, Pope Francis has been a vast critic of immigration policies in the United States. The pontiff even called the Central American children crossing the U.S. a "humanitarian emergency."
"He’s been clear on our failure to respond appropriately to [alien]s and refugees," said Representative Jim McGovern, Massachusetts-2 Democrat. "I don’t think anyone will have any doubt on where the church stands on immigration after the Pope visits the United States."
While it's the first time a Pope has visited the Capitol building, McGovern says he is hoping the Pontiff's message will shake up colleagues who have been opposed to revamping immigration laws.
"It may move some, it may not move others," McGovern said. "But I hope it makes those who have been obstructionist feel uncomfortable."
Francis will, in short, denounce national sovereignty and border control as "sins" and claim that Jesus would command border erasure and passive invasion (or "colonization," as Rush Limbaugh quips) as the Gospel itself. Any 'Pubbie who doesn't sign on to Obamnesty will be dismissed as a "Judas Iscariot".
This lunacy does, indeed, need to be combated, my Tea Party Trumpster friends. But it needs to be combated intelligently so as to win, not emotionally so as to guarantee crushing defeat. Sometimes you have to sacrifice some instant gratification catharsis now in order to hoist that metaphorical trophy later.
Exit factoid (via El Rushbo): No European nation has "birthright citizenship". None.
Maybe we should be more like the Euros.
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