Congressional and presidential candidates are waking up to an unyielding perception of illegal immigration as the defining issue that will determine the nature of America's future. Whether they believe this to be a valid issue makes little difference. How this issue divides Democrats and unites Republicans and shapes their strategies may decide the election's outcome.
The Iranian equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis, or some other unforseen development could change the immediate priorities of the largest number of People Who Actually Vote, but this group who are ultimately responsible for their government are steadfastly unswayed in their view of illegal immigration.
A large scale terrorist attack, at least by Al-Qaida, is probably unlikely, at least through the year ahead of Election Day 2008, because the "savvy" Al Qaida commander who has not yet joined the huge ranks of Al Qaida killed fighting Americans in Iraq, finally causing them to "regather" as Osama Bin Ladin commanded in his latest coded cavecam message; a like "redeploy" that John Kerry invented for American Democrats as a substitute for "retreat," probably does not want to do anything that would certainly unite Americans before Election Day. It worked in Spain, a few years ago, but is unlikely to work in the U.S. because while some nations react to terror with stunned caution, Americans unite to terror with well-armed rage.
And what about Iran?
The immediacy of Iran's nuclear ambitions to American voters will not be decided by President Bush but by the level of understanding of Americans held by the Mullahs of Persia's Elite Theocracy. Since their level of True Belief in their own Destiny may blind them to any allowance for pragmatism, decisions may already have been made in Tehran leading to an immediate and inconvenient change in nearly everyone's career plans. For the moment, let's proceed from the consensus, hopefully not an unfortunate mistake, hoping Iran is "years away," perhaps even a revolution or two away, from carrying out its openly stated ambitions of using atomic weapons to hasten the Apocalypse.
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) is leading Democrats in the House of Representatives, while Elizabeth Dole is trying to rally most Republicans in the Senate in a "bipartisan" effort to secure $3 Billion for U.S. Border Control, perhaps finally settling on some kind of strategy to build an effective Electronic Frontier, instituting a 21st Century equivalent to an actual "Wall" destainfully acknowledged by those who advocate "Comprehensive Immigration Reform."
Supported by a super-majority of those People Who Actually Vote, Shuler has seen the huge percentage of these authentic voters who want action and specifics on how their federal government will handle what is rightly perceived as the neglected problem of illegal immigration, inevitably tied to border security and national security.
Widely reported is a consistent 75 percent of Voters want secure borders. In North Carolina, where Shuler defeated a corrupt, long-term Republican incumbent in an historic Republican bastion for Union Loyalists during the War Between the States only last year, reliable polls show 85 percent simply want illegal aliens deported.
Such a large percentage everywhere in America, and not just in the, so-called, "red states," shows these numbers must also include Democrats and even a large chunk of latter day Liberals (and African Americans).
Heath Shuler's efforts, and those of the other Democratic Congressmen who have joined him, are the Democrat's only hope of neutralizing Republicans who finally, as the end of George W. Bush's term of office comes into view, are free to add Ilegal Immigration to their talking points with some credibility.
The issue can only divide Democrats as it can only unite Conservatives and their Republicans, tired of endlessly frustrated with the president's position and sharing with that 85 percent of North Carolinians well-earned suspicions of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" efforts with hidden amnesties. They see the the issue, as do most, as purely a matter of the Rule of Law and are unswayed and resentful of accusations of racism, in most cases a plain lie and untrue no matter how loudly shouted or implied.
Democrats running for president will be judged by voters for their record and the credibility of their promises. We may anticipate their attempt to sell a "Third Way," unoriginally, if only to unite their base no sooner or later than is necessary to secure their nomination.
Watch to see which of them expresses uncertainty about a "wall," which, again, can only be an Electronic Frontier to be effectively and immediately fashioned at relatively low cost, and listen for the first one of them who calls, literally speaks of a Third Way.
Like Bipartisan a Third Way is, as defined in the Democratic dictionary tranlates: "be reasonable...do it our way."
This charming crowd must define very specifically what is meant by "comprehensive" in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and they had better sound very groundbreaking and Kennedyesque in inspiration, again, if only to create transitory unity on the issue.
Republicans running for their nomination, who already know the issue unites their base and a super-majority of Americans, have to look closely at the crosstabs of the polls, indicative of an "Super Majority" being an understatement among their own Republicans Who Actually Vote" in Iowa, New Hampshire, and especially South Carolina.
Republicans running for president undoubtedly can see their fortunes will base on their individual record and their promises.
The "War on Terror" cannot be defended, cannot be separated from the burning issue of illegal immigration.
A fool could see, and a candidate with a record of having been soft on the issue or who might have actually parroted the wasted accusation of "racism" when it comes to this amazing, cross-demographic, unyeilding perception of illegal immigration as a Clear and Present Danger, especially to Republicans who actually vote, will, sooner or later, ultimately decide their career plans. Hillary Clinton will not be the last to have the issue, handled with ambiguity, explode in their face.
Americans Who Actually Vote want the issue handled, but while impatient, they are still open to any very specifically spelled out proposal to handle the issue quickly
With the 2008 Presidential Election cycle, their patience will come to an end.
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