Excellent post! Many young American citizens who live in Texas cannot afford college nor do they get or qualify for subsidies or grants. Political pandering is Perry's petard. Immigration issues are a hot button for Americans, especially in this economy and with the debt illegals add to the national deficit and our taxes.
72 percent say government not enforcing immigration laws
Snip: Most voters agree: 72 percent say the government is not enforcing existing laws, including majorities of Republicans (86 percent), independents (72 percent) and Democrats (59 percent).
Even after all this time, I still don't think the Republican elites understand this.
My own opinion of when the final nail was driven in George W. Bush's coffin was when he tried to shove comprehensive immigration reform down our throats.
For some reason George W. Bush refused to defend himself from attacks by the mainstream media, but his conservative base continued to defend him, even after passing a massive new government entitlement for prescription drugs, until the comprehensive immigration reform effort, when the base at last abandoned him.
I seem to recall that Bush was in Eastern Europe on a trip when he was told that the American people led by his conservative base were resisting his Bush-McCain-Kennedy amnesty plan. Bush got very angry and arrogantly made some comment to the effect that he would shove it through no matter what. That's when Bush finally jumped the shark.
I think the same with Perry. I don't expect him to change his position on the illegals to come in line with the conservative base, because in his heart he believes he is morally superior to us on this. I think he will dig in and lash out when challenged on this.