Our political Quote of the Day comes from Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, who issued a pointed warning about what will happen to his party if immigration reform fails:
“If we don’t pass immigration reform , if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016,” Graham warned during on appearance Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press. “We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party, and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who will run, in my view.”
Graham’s comment is correct. But it will be dismissed by some GOPers for varyings reasons: 1)it’s easier to fundraise for groups, sell books, or get cable, radio and blog audience share by ranting against it and to assert that immigration reform will merely be a gift to Democrats. 2)Some Republicans are less impressed by what may be strategically sound and are more focused on what seems tactically useful. George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Graham, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Marco Rubio (for now, I assume) are focused on the long-term importance of getting it done. In coming weeks they’ll likely have to battle a segment of the GOP that considers this a do or die issue.
And, indeed it is.
Read Grahma’s quote again..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.