2008 may see the meltdown of the Democratic Party. Immigration may reverse the massive shift in voter allegiance to the Democrats that occurred with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930's.
To date, commentators and columnists have stressed the divisions of the Republican Party, but those divisions are between the Republican elites, led by a President obsessed with integrating the United States into Mexico and the Republican grass roots base making sure this does not happen.
There is no division among the grass roots of the Republican Party; they want the borders sealed and illegal immigration stopped. Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo is calling for an immigration time-out. Prominent Republican Senators who backed amnesty may be in for primary fights in 2008. There is no doubt that the Republican grass roots is upset over the immigration issue and intends to do something about it.
However, no national commentators have speculated about how the issue of immigration will affect the Democrats in 2008. Perhaps, this column will start a trend.
The two leading Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, have both come down on the side of open borders.
Here is Obama:
"It behooves us to remember that not every single immigrant who came into the United States through Ellis Island had proper documentation. Not every one of our grandparents or great-grandparents would have necessarily qualified for legal immigration. But they came here in search of a dream, in search of hope. Americans understand that, and they are willing to give an opportunity to those who are already here, as long as we get serious about making sure that our borders actually mean something."
To the average voter, this is a cover for the hated word, "Amnesty." Obama voted for Bush's amnesty by refusing to kill the bill by ending debate.
Hillary Clinton has tried to strike a more conservative pose. She is quoted as saying, "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants." This was later changed to a more politically correct, "immigration" instead of "immigrants." Nevertheless, Hillary voted to keep the Bush amnesty bill alive in the United States Senate.
Senator Obama called Clinton, "Senator Punjab" for taking contributions from the India. He was absolutely correct, although he later muted his criticism. Perhaps, he wanted to keep this interest group contributing to his campaign.
Senator Clinton made a live videoconference speech to the "Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) 2007 Global Alumni Conference" last week at Santa Clara, California. "Clinton also reiterated her call to expand the H-1B program that allows companies to bring in skilled foreign workers who "contribute greatly to our U.S. technology development."
In brief, the two major Democratic candidates for President are for open borders and massive immigration into the United States. This is not a comfortable position to be in, when every opinion poll shows increased resistance to immigration.
At the state level, in Connecticut, Mayor John DeStefano is giving ID Cards for illegals in New Haven. Every Democrat on the New Haven city council voted for ID Cards. Only, Republican Arlene DePino voted against it. Mayor Dannel Malloy of Stamford put up signs for illegal alien workers declaring certain areas "No Hassle Zones."
Democrats voted for in-state tuition for illegals 76-24 in the House and 24 to 3 in the Senate. No Republican voted for it in the House or Senate. (The Republican governor vetoed it.)
Attorney General Blumenthal cannot find one contractor or company employing illegal aliens. These contractors violate state laws such as taxes, workers compensation payments and unemployment insurance.
Democratic House of Representative members Larson, DeLauro, Murphy and Courtney voted against withholding federal aid from amnesty cities. Republican Chris Shays voted for it.
Senator Christopher Dodd was in a "debate" with Senator Mel Martinez from Florida. The "debate" was in Spanish. Joe Lieberman co-sponsored the McCain-Kennedy amnesty. Both voted for Bush's amnesty.
A political party cannot stay the majority party against the wishes of an overwhelming number of voters on a key issue. Immigration is such an issue. Immigration may be the issue that ends the long-time dominance of politics by the Democrats, even in traditionally Democratic states.
Voters will eventually realize that a vote for any Democrat in 2008 is a vote for illegal immigration, amnesty and massive legal immigration. Democrats face the possibility of loss of elections not only at the federal level, but at every level of government: federal, state and local. In short, it will be a meltdown of the Democratic Party.
Paul Streitz
Co-director
CT Citizens for Immigration Reform
www.ctcic.net/
amfirst@optonline.net
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