UPDATE from Shusterman's What Effect Will the November Elections Have on Immigration?

1. What Effect Will the November Elections Have on Immigration?
Did you notice that the issue of immigration did not come up in any of the Presidential debates this year?

Could it be because both Senator Obama and Senator McCain have very similar views of this important subject? After all, Senator McCain was the co-sponsor with Senator Kennedy of the comprehensive immigration reform bill which was approved by the Senate. Senator Obama cast his vote in favor of this bill.

Anti-immigration zealots are distressed that both candidates are strong advocates of immigration reform. "We're going to have an incredibly bad White House, so we're in for some tough defensive battles," said Roy Beck, President of NumbersUSA, which favors reduced immigration. "We have to make sure we've got at least 41 senators so we can block any Obama or McCain amnesty."

However, during the Republican primary campaign, Senator McCain was forced to back away from his strong support for immigration reform because Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo entered the primaries primarily to force the other Republican candidates to take a tough stance against immigration, particularly that the 10-12 million persons working illegally in the U.S. should not be "rewarded" by being placed on a path to citizenship. During the Republican debates, even candidates like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain backpedaled on their strong support for immigration reform, and were forced to talk the talk of the anti-immigrant right wing of their party.

This has come back to haunt Senator McCain in the general election. The Hispanic vote is leaning heavily toward Senator Obama, mostly because of Senator McCain's anti- immigration rhetoric in the primaries. Even Congressman Tancredo's home state of Colorado which voted for President Bush in 2000 and 2004 seems ready to vote Democratic in 2008. Why? Primarily because Hispanic voters in Colorado view Senator McCain as being unreliable on the issue of immigration.

This should come as no surprise to the Republicans. Exhibit One is California, once a reliable state for the Republicans, which became a strong Democratic state after Republican Governor Pete Wilson rode to victory in 1994 on the back of anti-immigrant Proposition 187. See our "Wikipedia" page at

http://shusterman.com/wiki.html#9

The success of this proposition helped prompt more immigrants to naturalize and register as Democrats.

America is increasingly a multiracial society where politicians must appeal to voters of various races, religions and nationalities if they want to get elected.

Most polls and pundits are predicting not only that Senator Obama will be our next President, but that the Democrats will increase their majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

If this occurs, the anti-immigrant segment of House Republicans will no longer be able to block passage of the DREAM Act, the AgJobs bill, and ultimately, comprehensive immigration reform.














Source: http://shusterman.com/nov08.html#1

BTW i suggest u all subscribe if you haven't already to their monthly newsletter, full of news on immigration laws and important updates. YAY 2 more days and OBAMA!

"The Hispanic vote is leaning heavily toward Senator Obama"

I believe the hispanic population is almost 1/2 of the US, which is very very good in this election! african americans are only about 13 percent i think, but they are almost a definite for Obama.

Nevermind........ quaker took care of it

BettlesFan probably lives in california.

Funnier than BeatlesFan thinking half of the U.S is hispanic, is the fact that hooper doesn't know how to spell Beatles, LOL.

See, McCain is a conundrum for me. And while I do think that he is/was a good senator, it feels like I'm taking a gamble on him, not just because of his advanced age (and Sarah Palin taking on immigration ), but his immigration policies might just flip on me any second. While any president would be a gamble, McCain just looks like a big gamble to me at this instant.

And? So do I!

MAYBE in L.A. would the 50% thing be accurate lol.

maybe in new york city too!!lol

Lou Dobb was talking about this today. He said both of them didn't want to talk about it and avoided it so that they won't piss off their "base."

I was like... WHAT??? How would Obama's stance on immigration piss off his base? His base worships the ground he walks on and his immigration stance is favorable to democrats. McCain, maybe because after closing the border he supports CIR and he has a history of pro-immigration, he has reason to hide but not Obama... That Lou Dobb... is full of crap.

you know why it was never mentioned in this campaign? Because no one gives a crap about immigration when we got issues like Economy, War, Healthcare.

Oh crap! Sorry guys! there is so much info online about this I think I confused Hispanic population now.... to the one in 2050. DAMN.that's quite a difference. But I am actually from New York. argh! Hope you enjoyed reading the Shusterman article anyway! so excited about today! OBAMA