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lunes, mayo 14, 2007 Escrito PorAdam J. Segala las07:38 PM | Comentar | Imprimir | Enviar a Correo Ok, ok, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, but one issue that has come up repeatedly in meetings we have been having the past two weeks in Washington and elsewhere is this: Republicans in the U.S. Senate who supported "comprehensive" immigration reform last year may not cast their vote the same way this year.
After President Bush, Arizona Senator John McCain was the biggest name Republican senator pushing for comprehensive reform last year, but this year he's a presidential candidate and that has caused him to re-shape his contribution to the effort to resolve this controversial issue. At best Senator McCain is disengaged from the back-room politics of this issue now that he's busy campaigning, but at worst some suggest he may be avoiding the very issue he championed. Immigration reform -- at least if it means helping immigrants stay here longer or apply for citizenship -- does not appear to be a popular topic in the Republican presidential primary process. At least that's what an article due out tomorrow will suggest. Washington Post reporter Michael D. Shear pounces on this fact in a story that will run in tomorrow's paper but is online already. Shear writes: "Now, a renewed effort is underway, but this time without McCain as Kennedy's co-star. As he stumps in Iowa and New Hampshire, McCain has handed off day-to-day negotiations on immigration to his staff and to fellow Senate Republicans John Kyl (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). In his formal presidential announcement speech in New Hampshire last month, he made no mention of the issue." And the latest chatter is that Sen. Kyl, who ran an Hispanic outreach effort (Viva Kyl) in his re-election campaign in 2006, has his own views on immigration and uses different bargaining chips. That's not surprising but it is another indication that this year's possible debate on the issue may not end the same way it did last time. Sure it may be premature to predict the demise of reform before a floor debate has occured, but with the '08 presidential campaigning approaching presidential ambitions may impact this week's events.
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