Immigration reform may actually happen — or not

I’m really excited this week because there is a new topic in the world of politics. I was getting a bit brain-numb on the topics of gun control and the economy so this new order of business snuck in just in time.

After years of doing not-much on the issue, Congress has decided to tackle the problem of immigration reform. A “gang of eight” — consisting of Republicans Mark Rubio of Florida, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Michael Bennet of Colorado and New York’s senior senator, Chuck Schumer — have come together to tackle the issue just as a majority of Americans say they want the issue addressed.

Over the weekend it was announced that a new new Associated Press-GfK poll has found that more than 60 percent of Americans now favor allowing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. That's a huge jump from just two years ago when  only 50 percent supported the idea.

“We have a long way to go, but this bipartisan blueprint is a major breakthrough,” Schumer said Monday, adding the Senate could pass the bill by late spring or summer.

Democrats, of course, have pushed for immigration reform for a long time. Republicans, it would seem, have decided to join them in this effort because they’re realized that they have a reputation as the “old white-guy party” and old white guys are dwindling in numbers compared to women and minorities.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put in a subtle jab at the GOP, while thanking them for their change in position on the subject. “(Democrats) have been doing this alone,” he said. “It’s good to have some friends and partners in this effort.”

Even Karl Rove is praising this bipartisan effort. In what I would call a rare moment of candor, he even acknowledges that it will “bear some political fruit” for the GOP.

In November, President Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic, while Mitt Romney gained just 27 percent of that demographic. And worse for Republicans, 89 percent of the GOP vote overall was from whites, while 11 percent was from non-whites. Comparatively, Obama’s vote was 56 percent white and 44 percent non-white.

In other words, if the GOP had actually pulled some votes from people other than old white guys, they might have had a shot in 2012. And they’re hoping that if they dust off their image and come out as being more forward thinking on the immigration issue, they might increase their odds in 2016.

And if I can figure this out, surely Chuck Schumer and the brass in the Democratic Party can do the same. Which makes me wonder if they’ll consider putting a poison pill in the eventual legislation — something Republicans will hate — forcing the rank-and-file members of the Grand Old Party to vote it down, thereby allowing the Democrats to claim they fought for immigration reform but they couldn’t win against those dastardly Republicans.

Sadly politics means looking for the bad in everything good.

Scott Leffler thinks immigration reform would be good. But he’s not holding his breath. If he does hold his breath, he’ll update his Twitter — @scottleffler.

Here we go again - again

We are now officially into the second term of the 44th president of the United States. Despite all odds, Barack Obama was reelected in November and sworn into office on Sunday, hoping to fix what ails the world in his second four-year stint as president.

I was lucky enough to attend Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 and had hoped to attend his second one — the public version, at least — on Monday, but as happens, life got in the way.

I didn’t vote for Obama. Not the first time around. And not the second. And while I don’t think he has the answers to everything, I certainly hope he does well.

This country needs help on a variety of matters and we’ll need to pull together to do so. We’ll need to remember that there is no Democratic States of America. Nor is there a Republican States of America. Red states and blue states all end up with the same president. And for the next four years, that president is Obama.

We may have fundamental disagreements as Americans. Everyone has their own interpretation of what this country is, what it was founded on and what it should be in the future. There is plenty of room for disagreement. In fact, it’s quite heartening to see that we can disagree and still all stand for the same flag.

Of course, during his inauguration address, the president laid out a basic framework of what he wants this country to be. Just as predictably, his opponents on the right came forward with why they disapproved of his vision. Again, these disagreements are to be expected and are very healthy.

What’s not healthy is the amount of hatred and vitriol that each side continues to lob at the other. From the right’s point of view, anyone who supports Obama is anti-American and must hate freedom. From the left’s point of view, anyone who doesn’t support Obama is anti-American and must hate freedom.

I wish we could have taken the day off to just be American. There are very few days when we simply get to celebrate what it means to live in the best country of the world. Even the days that should be set aside to do that — Independence Day, for example — have been tainted with partisan rancor.

Four years ago, standing on the Mall with my then-11-year-old daughter, I was awestruck by how awesome it was to be an American. I was overwhelmed with patriotism as we installed Obama — despite my having not voted for him. And I was hopeful that the bitterness of the Bush and Clinton years may end.

The past four years proved that the bitterness and division remained. But this Sunday we began anew — again. And I hope we can unite. Before we fall apart.

Scott Leffler is incredibly naive, but in a cute, childlike way. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.