If Democrats have learned anything from the battle against Wall Street and BP, it’s that the more we take the offense, the more defensive Republicans become. See recent comments by John Boehner on Wall Street and Joe Barton on BP as examples. (Note to GOP: Use words that start with A, like ant and apology, sparingly, if at all).
[See which members of Congress get the most from the oil and gas industry.]
In baseball, a team makes mistakes when the other team runs a lot. Stealing bases and getting from first to third on a single forces the defense to throw the ball around and make stupid errors.
So I was happy as a Democratic campaign consultant to see President Obama take the offense today to criticize the Arizona law and push Congress to take on immigration reform. As Karl Rove has pointed out, fighting immigration reform puts the GOP on the outs with the fastest growing voting block in national politics--Latino voters. By obstructing reform, the GOP is on the glide path to becoming a permanent minority in states like Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, where the Latino minority is poised to become a political majority.
[Poll: Is Obama's Immigration Reform Proposal a Good Idea?]
I would have liked the president’s speech even more if he had proposed a specific plan. The president proposes and Congress disposes. I had hoped the president had learned from the healthcare reform battle that to get Congress to act quickly, he needs to give Congress something specific to chew on. Then the president needs to fight to get as much of it as he can in the final bill.
I will take anything I get. Any good baseball team does.
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