Free Republic

Radio show hosts and political pundits are suggesting that the primary election defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is the final nail in the coffin for passing immigration reform in this session of Congress. They surmise that other Republicans will be especially reluctant to tackle the issue for fear of losing political support. If we are led to believe that the results of a local election with 12 percent voter turnout in a single congressional district (one out of 435) with a mere 65,000 votes cast is all that it takes to disrupt a necessary and important national policy...

Republicans in the House who refuse to take on immigration reform don’t have much to fear from voters, according to a number of political experts. Despite public support for reform and the increase in Latino voters, this demographic has little clout in GOP-controlled districts. “Immigration reform policy still ranks comparatively much lower in importance compared to the economy, job creation, the federal deficit, job and healthcare,” said Daniel Cox, research director at the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in Washington. That’s because immigration reform still has relatively little support compared with more immediate concerns over the...

We’ve told you before about how GOP House Whip Kevin McCarthy is in a weird place on immigration reform. He’s gotta play the loyal No. 3 guy in charge and not rock the “no pathway to citizenship” boat that Speaker John Boehner is helming. Yes, even though McCarthy’s Bakersfield district is 35 percent Latino and even the local farmers want reform. A new poll to be released Thursday by America’s Voice that we got our hands on early has a message for McCarthy: It’s OK to support a pathway to citizenship. Your constituents will still love you. The poll’s message...