2. “Conservatives are anti-immigration.” In fact, conservatives (including
the American Enterprise Institute, Grover Norquist, the Cato Institute,
Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, Sen. Jeff Flake, Rep. Paul Ryan,
Sean Hannity, Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer) supported the Gang of Eight’s bill.
Liberals should either concede these are moderate groups and individuals or
acknowledge their accusation is inaccurate. No, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)
really doesn’t represent the majority of Republicans’ thinking on this
issue.
Ten things we learned from the Gang of Eight
By Jennifer Rubin, Published: June 25, 2013 at 9:45 amE-mail the writer
A lot of predictions and generalization have been thrown around by liberals
during the immigration fight. Let’s consider, in the wake of the 67 to 27
vote on cloture, some that were dead wrong:
1. “Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wasn’t ‘all-in.’” In fact, he risked
everything, even a 2016 presidential run for this.
2. “Conservatives are anti-immigration.” In fact, conservatives (including
the American Enterprise Institute, Grover Norquist, the Cato Institute,
Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, Sen. Jeff Flake, Rep. Paul Ryan,
Sean Hannity, Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer) supported the Gang of Eight’s bill.
Liberals should either concede these are moderate groups and individuals or
acknowledge their accusation is inaccurate. No, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)
really doesn’t represent the majority of Republicans’ thinking on this
issue.
3. “The GOP will never change.” In fact, immigration failed in 2007; now
it is headed for an overwhelming victory in the Senate.
4. “Talk radio is the voice of the GOP.” In fact, talk radio hosts were
divided, although most opposed the Gang of Eight. They were entirely
unsuccessful in stopping reform in the Senate, in part because they cater to
an audience that is not representative of the country or the GOP as a whole.
5. “The GOP base won’t tolerate immigration reform.” In fact, by
overwhelming margins Republican voters told pollsters that under
circumstances like those spelled out in the Gang of Eight plan they would
support immigration reform.
6. “The Senate is broken.” In fact, it works fine as long as President
Obama stays away.
Immigration reform skeptics also got plenty wrong.
1. “Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will sabotage the deal.” In fact, after
plenty of fussing, he held his colleagues in line.
2. “President Obama will wreck the bill.” In fact, he’s generally kept
his mouth shut, allowing the bill to get as far as it has.
3. “Conservative anti-immigration gurus rule the roost.” In fact, the
Heritage Foundation crashed and burned over its widely panned report and
virtually every other noteworthy think tank on the right put out studies,
presented papers and wrote op-eds making the conservative case for
immigration reform.
4. “The GOP ‘establishment’ would sell out the party.” In fact, many of
those Republicans considered squishy by the far right, including Sens.
Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.), voted no on cloture. They
will have to find others to blame.
