"And especially since Fox's ethnic crack gives liberals cover to oppose illegal immigration without seeming "racist"."
His recent comment was a gift to Hillary. As the recent Zogby poll indicates, African-Americans are very anti-illegal. You should hear Maxine Waters (D-CA) on the issue. She's to the right of Pat Buchanan in her rhetoric. And those sentiments are being driven by the huge impact that illegal immigration has had upon inner city neighborhoods.
Border security has the potential to rally the African-American base to Hillary's side in 2008 like nothing else. Any inroads by the GOP on gay marriage will long be forgotten. They'll be tripping over themselves to vote (or voting a few times, even better) in North Miami and West Philadelphia.
On illegal immigration, there has been a disconnect between the black people and black leaders.
Maxine Waters used to support amnesty and pro-illegals policies out of a deranged multiracialism. Like Jesse Jackson yesterday practically trying to make excuses for Fox. Black leaders had this fantasy of a Rainbow Coalition between Blacks and Hispanics with Blacks playing the Jews. But Black masses who suffered from economic competition with illegal immigrants deeply resented it.
Apparently, Maxine, with her ear to the ground, is junking a non-existent Rainbow Coalition and listening to the socio economic interests of her voters.
But frankly, Blacks always remembered the 90s as the best of times. There is a very strong bond of affection between Blacks and the Clintons. Massive Black support will guarantee the nomination for Hillary and the GOP gains due to sodomite marriage will be history. You are right. The GOP gains were entirely due to religious blacks not feeling comfortable about a secularist latte liberal whom they really hadn't supported in the primaries (in 2004 black support in the Democratic nomination process was an afterthought instead of being the driving force it usually is. It was the white Deaniacs and MoveOn types who drove the 2004 Dem nomination process.).