Bush announces changes to immigration policy
By Bill Schneider
CNN Political Unit
 |
President Bush: "We must make our immigration laws more rational and more humane."
Story Tools
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
(CNN) -- Advice to politicians: Do something unpredictable. You will surprise your supporters. You will disconcert your critics.
And you might just win the political Play of the Week.
On September 6, 2001, President Bush received Mexican President Vicente Fox as his first official state visitor.
High on the agenda: President Fox's concern about illegal Mexican workers in the United States.
On that day Bush said, "I can assure the president and the people of Mexico [that] we've heard his call."
On September 11, 2001, the world is transformed. Immigration reform is set aside for more than two years.
On Wednesday, President Bush's announced his first major policy initiative of the election year: "We must make our immigration laws more rational and more humane. And I believe we can do so without jeopardizing the livelihood of American citizens."
It's politics by confounding.
President Bush confounded his conservative base.
"You should never ever, ever reward people for breaking the law," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, D- Colorado.
The President also confounded his Democratic critics, such as presidential hopeful John Edwards.
"I think it's not enough," said Edwards. "The problem is there are still not going to be enough green cards available."
When you're taking flak from right and left, it may not be such a bad thing. It makes you look moderate.
It's a risk you take only if you have something to gain -- like support from the business community.
"If an American employer is offering a job that American citizens are not willing to take, we ought to welcome into our country a person who will fill that job," said Bush.
The president also risks gaining support from Hispanics, now the nation's largest minority.
"This is going to be seen among Latinos as a friendly, positive gesture," said Daniel Griswold of the CATO Institute.
With his immigration policy, President Bush has gone back to "compassionate conservatism" which is an approach that appeals to moderates and swing voters.
It's "beyond-the-base'' politics at a time when Democrats are slogging around Iowa, pandering to their party's liberal base.
And it's the Political Play of the Week.
The risk of a conservative backlash against President Bush seems minimal.
Unlike his father, conservatives are lined up solidly behind him on taxes and terrorism. And this President Bush has no Pat Buchanan challenging him in the primaries.
