Dog That Didn’t Bite

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Editorial / Periscope - Niall O'Dowd

Dog That Didn’t Bite

January 16, 2008

By Niall O’Dowd

IMMIGRATION is the issue that doesn’t bite in this election season, despite the best efforts of mad dogs such as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. Senator John McCain won handily in New Hampshire despite the smears from his opponents to portray him as ready to carry illegals across the Rio Grande on his back.

His victory was a stunning repudiation of the anti-immigrant sentiment in the GOP.

For months we have been regaled with stories of how critical immigration was as an issue for Republicans. Yet when it came to it, in Iowa and New Hampshire, McCain proved that principle, not pandering, is still so important.

McCain has stuck to his compassionate line on the immigration issue despite every attempt to undermine him by his enemies. He is showing the kind of political courage and class too often unrewarded in American politics.

I have heard McCain describe in great detail that it would take a convoy stretching from Alaska to San Diego to deport all 12 million undocumented in the U.S.

He puts the lie to the glib Romneys of this world that it is only a small matter to get rid of the illegals one way or another. Every Republican candidate with the exception of McCain has demagogued this issue to death hoping to milk votes from it. In the end, though, it may come back to haunt them.

Romney, in particular, made immigration his signature issue in New Hampshire and Iowa and received two black eyes for his troubles, despite spending massive amounts of money on advertisements trumpeting his hardline stance.

His own campaign is deeply divided on the issue. Columnist Bob Novak reported that a minority believed the immigration issue was a loser for Romney from the start.

He refused to take their word for it, though. Maybe he does now.

Romney is starting to resemble the Washington Generals, that team that constantly plays the Harlem Globetrotters but never wins. He went panning for fool’s gold on the immigration issue and ended up with a basin full of silt.

There was an excellent article in the Miami Herald by writer Andres Oppenheimer on this issue last Friday. “The anti-immigration card didn’t work in New Hampshire,” he wrote. “His (McCain’s) campaign could not be destroyed by those who claimed he was not being aggressive enough on immigration.”

Oppenheimer quoted Frank Sharry, head of the National Immigration Forum in Washington, D.C. as stating, “The anti-immigrant dog barks but it doesn’t bite.”

“Romney had invested millions to become the hero of the anti-immigrant forces but that hasn’t translated into votes in Iowa or New Hampshire.”

Polls repeatedly show that immigration is high up as a priority among Republicans, but the fact is that other issues trump it when it comes to actually casting a vote.

“What New Hampshire proved is that good candidates who run on other issues and do not demagogue on immigration can win,” says pollster John Zogby.

Now, of course, the election moves to states on Super Tuesday, February 5, where Hispanics will have large numbers going to the polls. New Mexico has 36% Hispanic, California has 20% Hispanic, Arizona has 25%.

Hispanic Republicans are hardly likely to vote for Mitt and his mates who have made a pastime of demonizing their own people. It seems to me that McCain’s pro-immigrant advocacy may even help him get over the top in the delegate race.

What a turnaround that would be for those who have predicted doom and gloom for McCain because of his principled stance.

Of course, by the time you read this Romney may have won his father’s home state of Michigan and begun some attempt at a comeback in the race. Even so, it is now clear that beating up on the undocumented, far from a clever tactic like Romney believed, had likely the opposite impact. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fellow.

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