There’s no doubt that Barack Obama’s executive amnesty is fueled by politics, although that’s hardly a surprise because everything Obama does is for politics first. But if you have trouble understanding why Democrats love illegal alien amnesty so much, and why they are so determined to push it in spite of the public’s opposition and people’s clear distaste for Obama’s abuse of his power, let’s spell it out:
As much as anything else, amnesty is about Texas. As implausible as it seems, Democrats are convinced that looming demographic patterns are going to give them an opportunity to turn Texas into a state that votes Democratic in presidential elections. As Wendy Davis found out this year, Texas Democrats are nowhere near the progress they probably thought they had made, but they still think it can happen.
This is all based on the state’s growing Latino and Hispanic populations, which of course the Democrats believe belong to them by divine right in the same way they view the black vote. The Democrats’ play for Texas basically rests on two things:
Convincing as many existing Latino/Hispanic voters as possible that Republicans hate them, just as they always try the same thing with black voters.
Making sure that those who are still coming across the border will eventually – and the sooner the better – become Democrat voters.
Executive amnesty is designed to help them do this in two ways. First, by provoking Republicans to rise up in opposition to the action, Democrats hope they can convince Latinos and Hispanics that Republicans just hate people like them and don’t want them in the country. I don’t know if you remember this, but when George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, he won 43 percent of the Latino/Hispanic vote. That set off a full alert for Democrats, who were determined never to let such a prized minority voting bloc abandon them to that degree again. They are convinced that by picking a fight with Republicans over open borders and amnesty, they can transform a lot of Latinos and Hispanics from open-minded voters to solid Democrats.
The second part of this, obviously, is their hope that illegal aliens who benefit from amnesty might eventually be able to vote – and of course, they expect them to vote for the party that ignored the law and let them stay here illegally when they had every legal right to deport them.
Is this strategy plausible? I don’t think so. For one thing, a recent poll shows that 43 percent of Latinos and Hispanics oppose Obama’s executive action. (Maybe it’s the same 43 percent who voted for Bush!) Not everyone who belongs to a demographic group wants the federal government to break the law on their behalf. The same is true with immigrants. A lot of immigrants come here with an entrepreneurial spirit seeking economic opportunity. They’re going to find their interests are not too well aligned with the way Democrats do things.
This is also why Obama ignored Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s pleas for help during the recent crisis with undocumented children showing up at the border. It wouldn’t have helped the Democrats’ long-term electoral goals for Obama to help, so he doesn’t help.
Democrats think big when it comes to their pursuit of power, and those 38 electoral votes in Texas would sure be an attractive prize for them. The electoral map has been pretty challenging or Republicans in recent elections, and that’s with Texas being a pretty reliably red state. Imagine the stars in Democrats’ eyes as they consider the possibility of bringing Texas into their corner. They probably think they could never lose another presidential election.
I think they’re dreaming, and you probably do too. But you should know that this is one of the biggest reasons all this is happening. Obama never does anything without a political motive. The motive here is as big as Texas – because it is Texas!
