Hill Republicans dodge on Arizona law

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Hill Republicans dodge on Arizona law
Democrats can’t shout loud enough about how much they hate Arizona’s harsh immigration law. But Republican lawmakers are hedging, dodging, and reaching for nuance—anything to avoid taking a strong stand on Arizona.
House Minority Leader John Boehner says it’s a state issue and, well, it has 70 percent support in Arizona. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is “sympathetic.” Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and rising conservative star, has major “concerns.” Lindsey Graham says it might not be constitutional anyway—and so does former Rep. Tom Tancredo, the right’s loudest critic of illegal immigration. But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), caught between Texas’ large Hispanic population and his job running national Senate campaigns, thinks it’s “probably constitutional.”
Indeed, for a party that has been remarkably unified and on message of late, the Arizona fallout has jammed Republicans who need to please a base that is virulently anti-illegal immigrant yet still wants to expand their party’s appeal to Hispanics, the fastest growing demographic in the country. Everyone in the Republican Party says it’s Washington’s fault for neglecting the illegal immigration problem, but virtually no congressional Republicans are fully embracing what Arizona has done.
“I am sympathetic to the problem and the challenge the people of Arizona and their elected leaders face with this issue…there is an absence of direction at the federal level on this,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican who is viewed as a possible presidential contender in 2012.
“I think the federal government needs to step up, that’s why I support a comprehensive approach,” Cornyn said, but only if President Barack Obama invests some political capital—and so far “I haven’t seen any investment whatsoever other than just lip service,” he said.
Should Texas implement a law like Arizona’s?
“I don’t think we need to have a proliferation of different state standards,” Cornyn said.
Under the bill, law enforcement officers would be required to ask people for a driver’s license or citizenship documents if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that someone is an undocumented immigrant.
President Barack Obama has called the Arizona law “misguided”— giving some Republicans an opening to talk about the law.
“I’m not sure why the administration is throwing stones at the legislature and governor in Arizona, for example, when they should be working together to solve the problems and address the very, very real concerns that the citizens of Arizona have,” said Sen. Scott Brown (R-Ariz.). The administration is pushing him to support a comprehensive immigration bill.
Republican aides quietly acknowledge that no one wants to be the first to stand up and speak up in favor of the law. “Accusations would fly, and no one wants to risk that,” said one Senate Republican aide.
“The Democrats see it as a politically advantageous argument to have, but I think there are probably a lot of Democrats too, who as hot as this issue is right now…probably think it’s not the best time to bring this up,” said Thune.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz0mLEovId3