>Kerry will hold his nose and announce major immigration
>initiatives that will catch Bush flatfooted.
I can't possibly imagine that Kerry would do such a thing. If he were to do it, however, I think your 5%-7% predicted swing would be a mere shadow of the voters who would switch away from Bush to Kerry.
Given the supermajority of voters who say that they are seriously disturbed by this issue, it would be a winning strategy for Kerry.
I've heard ultra right wing conservatves here on the border make similar arguments.
"If Kerry wins, he'll legalize all of them. We won't have to put up with illegals here on the ground destroying our property. All we'll see is contrails at 35,000 feet heading from Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Hermosilla towards places like Denver, Chicago, and Cleveland."
Not exactly a loser situation here...
It isn't even a bleep in the radar of the issues that voters consider the primary ones this election year.
Most important issues: When asked what they consider are the most important issues, 25% of registered voters cited the economy as the top issue, followed by 24% who cited the war on terrorism as the top issue. The situation in Iraq was rated the top issue by 17% of registered voters, moral values issues such as gay marriage and abortion were the top issue for 16% of respondents, and health care was the most important issue for 11% of respondents. -- Source
I can imagine Kerry could become anti-immigrant in the name of security, the same way certain Democrat liberals have begun to trash Jews and Israel because they think it curries favor with other groups that promise to give them more of an edge. The KKK used to be predominately Democrat ....not THAT long ago...remember?