Shattering the coalition

George W. Bush is spending what remains of his political capital on the issue of illegal immigration. Since his hand was forced some time ago, he has taken the reasonable position that we must seal our borders, legally admit as many of all kinds of workers as our economy requires to keep the engine running at a reasonable speed without hurting American citizens, and providing some sort of a `guest worker’ program for the ten or more million illegal aliens already in the country. To me this is a sensible and good approach to the situation.

Large segments of the Republicans coalition find this position by President ____ to be an anathema. But a smaller number have reached beyond party core and reached out to Democrats and independents in an effort to find an equitable solution. The Senate Judiciary Committee led by Senators Specter, McCain and Kennedy seems to be settling in on an approach similar to the president’s.

Majority Leader, Senator Bill Frist is threatening a showdown on the floor of the Senate in support of far more draconian measures that are in accord with an onerous bill that has already passed the House. Since the Republicans in the House have the votes to block any conference committee result that includes anything that could be interpreted as amnesty, the likely bottom line result is that no immigration legislation will be enacted this election year.

My purpose today is to compare President Bush quite favorably with President Lyndon Johnson whose heroic action on civil rights made America a better place then and that created a legal legacy that makes it better today. Johnson was a master at extruding the legislation that he wanted from the Congress. His hero was Franklin Roosevelt and, like FDR, LBJ forced the action on the Hill. Johnson might have been even better a getting his way than Roosevelt.

As has been described far better by others, Johnson and Martin Luther King did a great dance over civil rights and Johnson ultimately did what he thought was right and supported sweeping changes for the country. Because of this, Blacks – and all others outside the political mainstream because of race, color, religion, ethnicity, sex and any other political disability – were afforded the protections that we now take for granted.

But there was a down side for Johnson. He knew as he moved on civil rights that he was doing what should be done, but he knew too that the great Democratic coalition that had been cobbled together by Roosevelt a generation earlier would be shattered. Johnson knew full well that his aggressive policies would result in the diminution of the Democrat Party for the rest of the twentieth century, especially in the South. As an American, he acted in the best interest of the country, but as a loyal Democrat he was well aware that he was undermining the party that he loved and that had brought him to the pinnacle of political power.

Today, the condition of the ruling Republican coalition is horrible. Power has corrupted it. Incompetence has clogged its arteries. And the segments have taken to fighting among themselves and to undermining President ____ whom they no longer see in the picture.

But Mr. Bush is taking a principled stand on immigration, and his alliance with moderate Republican and Democrats senators on the immigration question will finish off the ruling coalition as we’ve known it for a dozen years and as it has been building since Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Regardless of whether the president and the senators are successful in getting an immigration act, the nativist parts of the coalition will forever hate _____ _ ____ and after a generation and half the Democrats, including many in the South will return to power.

As Vietnam destroyed Johnson so the Iraq War has ruined George W. Bush’s presidency, but he can redeem himself partially in history by fighting hard for the immigration policy that he has been championing.

This may well assure the loss of power for his party, but is the right thing. For this, I salute the president.

Blog on!

Wild Bill