I think Obama putting off immigration reform after the midterms is going to be

[Savannahmann]

22. Here be the problem.

If you promise something. You have to carry out the promise, or the threat. Let's say your loved one is a drinker, a heavy drinker. You tell them to stop drinking, get help, and get sober or you are leaving. If they don't quit drinking, and you don't leave, you have nothing else to hold over them. No threat you make will be taken seriously. No request will be heard, because you have demonstrated that you are not serious about your threats.

President Obama said that if the Republicans didn't do something, he would. He would by the end of the summer. It was a do something or else I will unilaterally do something threat. Then the polling that existed at the beginning of the summer, did not change. President Obama had some choices, before he made the threat. Then he had none.

Before he issued the ultimatum, he could have called on congressional action. He could have done speeches all over the nation calling on people to contact congress. Democrats could have held town hall meetings to highlight who they believe should be given amnesty, and why. Instead, Democrats stepped back and thought they had put pressure on the Republicans. That was amazingly stupid. The Republicans had polling on their side. All they had to do to win was NOTHING. That thing you blame them for now. The Democratic Party led by President Obama managed to out maneuver themselves while standing still. We cornered ourselves and now are breathing a sigh of relief because the President did not follow through with his threat.

You can swim against the current so to speak, politically. If you are going to do it, you have to be out there, holding town hall meetings, televised ones preferably, where you defend your choice and explain it and here is the thing, convince the people to see it your way. If you are going to swim against the current, the one thing you can't do is NOTHING. Democrats did just that. President Obama did just that. Republicans were floating with the current, they didn't need to do anything to reach the end of the river. All they had to do was nothing, and eventually the current would carry them to victory. You can blame them for doing nothing, but we are in the serious minority for that.

So what has happened? The Republican base is more energized. If they can get President Obama to back down and break a promise while they are the minority, imagine what they can do in the majority. Liberals feel disappointed, because a bold move of the President went by the wayside. Hispanics feel betrayed, and ask themselves why they should march, vote, and support Democrats when they're going to get stabbed in the back for doing so. So who wins? Not us. Nuff said.

So what can the President do to defuse this before the election? Well he's rumored to be ready to announce more stringent border protections. Yeah, because what we need is more guns and troops on the border to fix immigration. Why not come out in favor of a big wall on the southern border to keep all those brown people out if you're going to embrace the RW talking points? I mean, don't go half way, just go all the way and appoint Pat Buchanan as the head of the INS?

For the last several elections, we have had a simple plan that has worked mostly. It is to stand back and let the Republicans screw up. The problem with this plan is when the Rethugs don't put a racist idiot in front of the camera who talks about "real rape" we're the ones completely screwed. We are left without a battle plan to win the election, and it's showing in the polling. Praying that the other guy screws up is not a plan for victory. It's past time that the Party figured this out.