Poll: Immigration Bill Flopping With Only 22% Support
June 25th, 2007
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
It isn’t R.I.P. for the stalled immigration reform bill in terms of public support.
Yet.
It’s on life support.
But barely.
That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from a new Rasmussen Reports poll that suggests the bill has irked conservatives and is also getting two thumbs down (or a middle finger up) from liberals, Republicans, Democrats, independents and moderates.
If this keeps up, it’ll soon match Vice President Dick Cheney’s popularity numbers…
Even worse: the poll finds that all the lobbying by the White House has done very little to budge most Americans who seem to have concluded that the bipartisan deal smells:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 22% of American voters currently favor the legislation. That’s down a point from 23% a couple of weeks ago and down from 26% when the debate in the Senate began. Fifty percent (50%) oppose the Senate bill while 28% are not sure.
Among the public, there is a bi-partisan lack of enthusiasm for the Senate bill. It is supported by 22% of Republicans, 23% of Democrats, and 22% of those not affiliated with either major party. It is opposed by 52% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats, and 48% of unaffiliateds.
From an ideological perspective, the bill is opposed by 59% of conservatives, 54% of liberals, and 45% of political moderates. Among those for whom none of the traditional ideological labels apply, just 20% are opposed.
Support is found from 20% of conservatives, 32% of liberals, and 18% of moderates.
Just 32% believe it would be better to pass the current bill instead of doing nothing. Forty-five percent (45%) believe it would be better to pass nothing at all.
If the current bill passed, 71% of American voters believe that another bill would be required to focus on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration. That’s up from 65% in our previous survey.
Rasmussen notes that there is a bit of a dichotomy. Polling indicates most Americans WOULD support a bill that has strong border enforcement plus some way to legalize 12 million illegal alliens. At the same time, however, the gap between a hypothetical bill and deciding on a real bill is the problem. Bottom line: most Americans don’t think a legislative solution to legalizing those already here would turn out to be a solution.
PERSONAL NOTE: I covered most stories on Ronald Reagan’s immigration reform/amnesy package as my beat as Staff Writer for my then-employer, The San Diego Union. I personally believe most Americans (on both sides) remain stung by the fact that the highly-touted Reagan plan fell short of initial hopes. Millions were legalized, but the law most certainly didn’t discourage people from illegally crossing the border. Plus, the highly-touted hard-line enforcement of immigration laws that would supposedly clamp down on corporations that knowingly hired and used illegals once the amnesty was in place didn’t materialize (the operative theory has been that migrant-dependent businesses sent a message to Washington, which listened).
So Americans on all sides are more skeptical than ever. It’s an emotional issue but there are several layers of skepticism in many parts of the U.S.A over whether a plan that politicians tout will really work, or whether it’s just another plan that will be put in place so politicos can get votes from targeted constituencies around election time.
So there are twin problems: the bill itself…and efforts by those on both sides to offer arguments that are more than demonizing the other side. Emotion has overpowered debate and made substantive, position-changing debate that much harder.
TWO OTHER NOTABLE POSTS:
–Be sure to read Ron Beasley who wonders where all the moderates are.
–And be sure to read Ed Morrissey who thinks he has an answer to that.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 8:26 pm and is filed under George W. Bush, Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, Bush Administration, Polls, Moderates, Congress, Centrists, Conservatives, Immigration, Liberals, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
