Obama has played what seems to be a fairly smart chess game with the Republicans. His latest gambit-- an executive order affecting four to five million immigrants puts the Republicans in a position that I think is very difficult.
"... the relationship between the all-but-certain 2016 presidential candidate and America's largest minority--and arguably its most important group of swing voters--was made even more complicated recently when Clinton stampeded into the delicate immigration debate.
In an exchange that likely made many of her Latino supporters wince, Clinton wound up showing more sympathy toward President Obama for finding new and creative ways to deport 2 million people in five and a half years than she did toward the tens of thousands of Central American children who have, since 2011, streamed across the U.S.-Mexico border trying to escape gang violence back home and hoping to obtain the equivalent of Willie Wonka's golden ticket..."
Navarette concludes, after reporting that Hillary did pretty well in the 2008 primaries with Latinos, "On the immigration issue, the Clintons have never been part of solution. They've been too busy being part of the problem."
If people like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are going to run in the primary, they'll need to build strong connections to the Latino community. Warren had support from 86% of Latino voters in defeating Scott Brown in 2012, NBCLatino reported. Bernie Sanders is proposing making election day a holiday, which could encourage greater turnout, since the Latino turnout earlier this month was very low.
Smart talk and efforts this year and next could build loyalty and support that make the difference when the primaries roll around.
Of course, the Democrats are geniuses at screwing things up, so anything is possible.
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