As Ezra Klein points out, a national biometric ID card is the most effective way to distinguish legals from illegals. Imagine that. One of the remedies most feared by the paranoid right may be its only option.
And, as Klein goes on to discover, immigration is now issue numero uno in the upcoming elections. It's an issue which puts Republicans in an uncomfortable situation. If they make things even more difficult for Hispanics, they lose votes they badly need. The irony: Republicans (in Arizona) did this to the Republicans (nationally) of their own free will at a time when Americans of Hispanic origin are moving towards becoming a majority of all voters.
Immigration is a dangerous issue to add into the election, but it's also an important one. Pretty much every Republican will admit that over the long haul, their party can't totally lose the Hispanic vote. Doing so would consign it to being a regional also-ran. If Republicans can't formulate a humane position on immigration for 2010, they're likely to poll abysmally with Hispanics come Election Day. And that may offer the necessary spur for them to attempt to solve this issue -- and repair that relationship -- before the 2012 election. Either way, for all that some might not want to see immigration added to this electoral environment, it's done. And it's Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature, not the Senate Democrats, that did it.
I wonder whether Jan Brewer will get to be as beloved within her party as her fellow opportunist, Katherine Harris.
