Without regard to the merits, I am finding the politics of immigration reform fascinating. Mitch McConnell praised the Judiciary Committee when they voted out their bill and he still says that he wants the Senate to pass a bill. Even John Cornyn of Texas is acting like he wants to vote for immigration reform. Yet, the backlash is white-hot.
The influential conservative blog RedState.com has already teed off against McConnell for signaling his support for the motion to proceed.
“So even as Obama is embroiled in the worst scandals of his administration, McConnell plans to bail him out with his second biggest legacy victory,” wrote RedState’s Daniel Horowitz. “He is opting to roll over and genuflect before The Schumercare Democrat Voting Act of 2013,” Horowitz wrote.
McConnell and Cornyn will support the “motion to proceed,” meaning that the Senate will be able to begin debate on immigration reform and consider amendments. There will be no filibuster on the front end. However, there are going to be some amendments that need to pass in order for the Republicans to allow a vote on final passage. These will probably be related to border security, although I am not sure what the actual bottom line is going to be. At a minimum, the Republicans will need to be able to plausibly argue that they toughened up the bill a bit before they’ll feel that they have the cover they need to vote for it.
I am amused by Daniel Horowitz’s formulation: The Schumercare Democrat Voting Act of 2013. The bill will not create a single new registered voter for at least thirteen years. The first presidential election where any presently undocumented workers will be able to participate will be in 2028.
More telling is Horowitz’s opposition to giving the president a victory. It’s not necessarily even important what the victory might entail, because allowing the president to prevail on anything is “bailing him out.”
That’s pretty representative of the current mindset in Republican circles, and it makes it very hard to accomplish anything, even if it is something that makes total sense and most Republican voters can support.