Interesting thing is that Jarrett’s statement may have been a deliberate attempt to tick the GOP base off into staying home, helping ensure Dem retention of the Senate.
She isn’t really known for making gaffes like this. So we presume that the original statement came out exactly as she intended it too. The backtracking is just a way of covering her and the administrations a**es.
That leaves two options. The first is that she inadvertently let slip the existence of a secret deal in a public forum. Again, not something she’s known for.
The other option is, knowing how divisive amnesty is within the GOP. And how riled up the GOP base is over it and the GOPe, she’s trying do some voter suppression by exploiting that division to convince Conservatives to stay home.
I’d probably break the mistake/slip/suppress likelihood ratio down to a 10/30/60 split.
I think that is exactly the case. You just have to look at what Boehner has said; what Cantor has said; what Ryan has said; what Cathy McMorris-Rodgers said; what Mario Diaz-Balart has said; what Bob Goodlatte has said; etc.
The telltale sign is that folks like Zuckerberg and the many donors who signed a letter to the GOP are still pressing ahead. These are not stupid people who would waste their time on a futile effort. They have been given some assurances by the GOP House leadership.
As someone who lobbies on the Hill on immigration issues, I can tell you that the next three months are a time of great danger. The pressure is enormous. And if they don't get amnesty this summer, they will definitely push hard to do it during the lame duck session even if the Reps were to win the Senate. Both parties have abandoned the American worker and are in the pockets of the corporate elites.