GOP Grabs 30 Governor Seats, Highest for Either Party in Over a Decade - ABC News

North Carolina elected its first Republican governor in more than two decades, securing 30 gubernatorial seats for the GOP.

Republican Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor who had been leading in the polls in the final days leading up to the election, defeated Democratic candidate Walter Dalton, the state's lieutenant governor, with 55 percent to 43 percent of the vote, according to ABC News projections.

It was a major milestone for the Republican party. Not only was it the first time North Carolina had elected a Republican governor since 1988, it also gave the GOP 30 statehouse seats, the highest number for either party in 12 years. The Democrats now have 19 governor seats. One state, Rhode Island, has an independent governor.

Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst for Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election analyst group, said the significance of Republicans winning the majority of statehouse seats is that it gives them "bragging rights," especially after President Obama clinched his re-election.

"If Romney loses [today], one of their talking points will be governors," Duffy said. "If you have two-thirds of the nation's governors on the same policy and that share similarities, then you have something that has a combined larger effect... [Republicans] would argue they have all these governors implementing the same kinds of policy, that's only good for Republicans."

North Carolina's governor's race was a big target for the Republican party. Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, who narrowly beat McCrory in 2008, served one term but was not seeking re-election.

The Republican Governors Association spent nearly $6 million in advertising buys to support McCrory and link Dalton to Perdue after a grand jury indicted one of Perdue's top aides for allegedly scheming to pay a staff member off the books in violation of state election laws.

Duffy said state Democrats made a mistake putting up Dalton against McCrory.

"Beverly Perdue was so unpopular she couldn't run for a second term," Duffy said. "It's easy to tag [Dalton] with everything she did, so Democrats kind of gave up on that one two or three weeks ago."

ABC News projected that the GOP also celebrated a gubernatorial win in Indiana when Republican Mike Pence defeated Democrat John Gregg. The Indiana governor's race was expected to be a lock for Pence, a six-term congressman, in a state that is traditionally deep red. But Gregg, a former Indiana House speaker, held him off for a few hours after the polls closed. Gregg had gained some last minute traction after painting Pence as an extremist, similar to Indiana's Tea Party-backed Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who created a controversy last month by saying pregnancy resulting from rape is something "God intended to happen."

Current Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is term-limited and not eligible for re-election.

The Democrats scored a big gubernatorial win tonight in New Hampshire, one of three statehouse races that were considered toss-ups in the final days leading up to the election.

Democratic candidate Maggie Hassan, a former state Senate majority leader who had kept a slight lead in a tight race over the past few days, beat Republican challenger Ovide Lamontagne, despite the Republican Governors Association dumping a reportedly $6 million advertising buy into Lamontagne's campaign over the weekend.

Current New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat who has been in office for eight years, is retiring after his term.

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Biden tells Ariz. Dems state is up for grabs

Vice President Joe Biden roused Democrats in Phoenix on Thursday by becoming the latest to suggest that Arizona and its 11 electoral votes may be in play in this year's presidential election.

"We think we have a real shot at winning the presidential race here in Arizona," Biden said to the raucous applause of about 100 donors at the Heard Museum for a fundraising luncheon.

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is not accepting the conventional wisdom that Arizona inevitably will go Republican this year, Biden said, promising, "You're going to see organizers here."

The big question for political observers is whether Biden was speaking to a deepening belief among Democrats that they really can take the traditional red state, which has backed Democrats for president only twice in the past 65 years, or if his remarks just reflected political gamesmanship. But at this point, Democratic leaders are insisting they view Arizona as legitimately up for grabs.

Obama campaign officials have said that they believe Obama would have carried Arizona in 2008 had John McCain, the state's senior senator, not been the GOP presidential nominee that year. Obama beat McCain in surrounding states such as Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

Republicans strenuously disagree that Obama has a chance of beating Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee, in Arizona. Republicans have a voter-registration edge here, and Romney, a Mormon, could benefit from the state's large Mormon population.

"Arizona voters realize that the Obama-Biden administration has failed to deliver on its promise to create jobs and turn around the economy," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said. "They realize that this president is in over his head on economic matters and he has no plans to put middle-class families back to work. Arizona is ready to elect a successful businessman like Mitt Romney, who understands how the economy works and can restore America's prosperity."

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, today will make his first public appearances in Arizona since he won a decisive victory over his GOP rivals in the state's Feb. 28 presidential-preference election.

He is expected to appear with McCain at a Republican National Committee gathering at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort; host a Hispanic business round table and participate in a rally in Tempe; and headline a big-ticket fundraiser at a home in Phoenix's Biltmore area.

Romney's campaign also will announce today his endorsement by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

"After a long primary, it is time for the Republican Party to come together and support the candidate who will defeat President Obama," Kyl, the Senate minority whip who is not seeking re-election to a fourth term this year, said in a written statement.

Despite Romney's support from the Arizona Republican establishment, one political expert noted that Arizona has elected Democrats to statewide office, so an Obama victory is not too far-fetched.

"But remarks like that (Biden's) are more in the order of a head fake that is trying to get the Republicans to divert their scarce campaign resources to states that they're going to carry anyway," said John J. "Jack" Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. "This is more about psychological warfare than electoral-college arithmetic."

Perhaps the likeliest scenario for Obama to carry Arizona, Pitney said, would be if he built up a substantial national lead like President Bill Clinton did when he won the state in 1996.

"I don't think that 2012 is going to be like that, and in a close election, you have to concentrate your scarce resources where they can do you the most good," he said. "And that's probably defending the states he carried four years ago rather than trying to stake out new territory."

But Bruce Merrill, a veteran political scientist and senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said he believes the presidential race in Arizona is much closer than he initially would have predicted.

Statewide poll results that he intends to release soon reflect a tight race between Romney and Obama among Arizona voters.

Other polls over the past couple of years have had Romney performing well against Obama in the state, although an automated survey conducted in February had the race tied. However, those polls were taken before it was completely clear that Romney would be the nominee.

"If the election were held today, I think it would be very close, but I think Romney would probably win in Arizona," Merrill said. "But strategists from around the country have called me, and they are arguing that Arizona is in play. I think the Obama people really do believe that they can win here."

At the Phoenix fundraiser, Biden laid out why he believes the Democratic ticket will win a second term in November.

The vice president predicted the Obama campaign's grass-roots ground game will counteract the millions of dollars of negative advertising that they expect the Republicans and their allies to throw their way.

The American people also will reward Obama for the backbone he showed in making tough decisions related to his health-care-reform overhaul, the automobile-industry bailout and the fight against al-Qaida terrorists, he said.

Biden got a hearty response to a campaign "bumper sticker" slogan he suggested for the Democrats: "Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive."

"Neither of those things would be true had Romney been president the last four years," Biden said.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton spoke at the fundraiser prior to Biden, who was introduced by Karen Casas, a 17-year-old student from South Mountain High School in Phoenix and a campaign volunteer.

Stanton praised the administration for the help the 2009 economic-stimulus package gave Phoenix during the recent recession.

"Their actions put people to work and kept people at work, particularly teachers and public-safety officers and police and firefighters, during the worst of the economic slump," Stanton said. "And now, we have witnessed more than 25 consecutive months of private-sector job growth, creating over 4 million jobs nationwide since March of 2010 -- 30,000 of those jobs right here in Arizona. ? The city I lead is better off than it was four years ago."

Tickets for the Heard Museum event started at $500 and raised money for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and multiple state Democratic parties.

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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McCain: Hispanic vote 'up for grabs' (AP)

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the potentially powerful Hispanic vote in the upcoming presidential election remains "up for grabs" because neither President Barack Obama nor Republicans have convinced these voters that they are on their side.

The one-time GOP presidential hopeful, whose own 2008 candidacy was shaped in part by immigration, said that large Hispanic populations in his home state of Arizona and elsewhere are listening carefully to what Republican candidates have to say on immigration and could become a "major factor" in 2012.

"I think that the Republican party has to discuss this issue in as humane way as possible," he said. He later added, "the enthusiasm on the part of Hispanics for President Obama is dramatically less than it was in 2008, because he has not fulfilled his campaign promises either. So I view the Hispanic vote up for grabs."

McCain comment, on CNN's "State of the Union," is a warning to the GOP primary candidates who have mostly embraced a hardline on immigration, lest they be accused of supporting any kind of "amnesty" for the some 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in the U.S. Newt Gingrich was most recently attacked by his opponents for saying he would grant legal status to those with longstanding family and community ties; he has since endorsed a South Carolina law that allows police to demand a person's immigration status.

McCain said he believes the Hispanic vote could sway Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The key, he said, was for Republicans to address immigration in a humane and pragmatic way that every voter could appreciate. More specifically, McCain said, GOP presidential candidates should find a way to address the status of illegal immigrants already in the country while finding a way to secure the border to deter others from crossing the border.

"It's a careful balance of addressing this issue, which I think the majority of Hispanics would appreciate. . . . We have to have empathy. We have to have concern. We have to have a plan," he said.

In 2008, McCain watched his own standing in the election suffer when he backed a plan to give some illegal immigrants an eventual path to citizenship.

Gingrich has challenged his GOP opponents to come up with their own plans for dealing with the millions inside the U.S. illegally.

"What is it that you're going to do? Are you really going to go in and advocate ripping people out of their families?" he said.

In 2008, Mitt Romney had supported the idea of allowing some illegal immigrants to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship. More recently, he has said it would be a "mistake" for the GOP to allow anyone to "jump ahead of the line" and characterized Gingrich's approach as a "doorway" to amnesty.

In the interview Sunday, McCain declined to comment on the position of individual candidates. "I respect the views of the voters," he said.

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SC primary up for grabs, Gingrich making big play (AP)

By PHILIP ELLIOTT and JIM DAVENPORT, Associated Press Philip Elliott And Jim Davenport, Associated Press – Mon Dec 5, 3:33 am ET

NEWBERRY, S.C. – For three decades, the Republican who won South Carolina's presidential primary has also won the GOP nomination.

That record helps explain why Newt Gingrich, a self-described lover of history, is working more aggressively than any of his competitors to organize activists and volunteers ahead of the Jan. 21 primary, essentially pinning his candidacy on a state filled with Christian conservatives.

His chief rival, Mitt Romney, is approaching South Carolina tentatively. He invested huge sums in the state in the 2008 presidential race only to bail just days before the vote when it became clear he would lose big to Arizona Sen. John McCain. Many voters couldn't overlook their skepticism of Romney's Mormon faith and his reversals on some cultural issues.

The others in the 2012 race are treating South Carolina as an afterthought while they bank their candidacies on one of the two states that vote first, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Enter Gingrich, who's enjoying a burst of momentum after a summer campaign meltdown.

"I do believe South Carolina will be the decisive primary," the former House speaker from Georgia told Republicans who packed a theater in Newberry last week. "If we win here, I believe I will be the nominee."

But victory in the state won't come easy for the thrice-married Gingrich.

He has acknowledged having an extramarital affair, an issue that may turn off Christian conservatives who hold great sway in South Carolina. Gingrich, a recent convert to Catholicism, frequently makes a point of talking about his close partnership with third wife Callista.

He has advocated a "humane" approach to immigration that would let longtime residents work toward citizenship. Critics have labeled that as "amnesty" for millions of foreigners who are illegally in the United States, and that's another potent issue in the state.

Winning in South Carolina would be even more difficult if he were to come in with a 0-2 record, losing in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Perhaps for all those reasons, if not in spite of them, Gingrich is building the largest presidential organization in the state. He's sinking more into South Carolina than he has in any other early voting state as he seeks to capitalize on his rebound after a troubled campaign start when virtually his entire staff quit.

He has opened five offices and hired nine people, the most of any of the Republicans.

In early nominating states like South Carolina, Gingrich's campaign was meeting with former aides and advisers to Herman Cain, who dropped out of the GOP race Saturday. While Cain's endorsement remains up for grabs, Gingrich and his rivals were looking to schedule one-on-one meetings this week with the former pizza executive.

South Carolina voters are starting to notice Gingrich, and at least some like what they see.

Virginia Coker of Hartsville attended a town hall-style meeting Wednesday night at the Newberry Opera House that doubled as a fundraiser for the state party. She was hardly a fan before Gingrich took the stage and answered more than a dozen questions from the party faithful. She left a convert.

"He's going to be the nominee," Coker predicted.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor in his second presidential bid, is working quietly to build an organization in the state. He hasn't visited much and has only three paid workers in South Carolina. But Romney has done the groundwork for a campaign that could quickly be up and running if he chooses to compete in the state. Unlike Gingrich, Romney has millions in the bank to start airing television ads that could affect the race.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas are the only candidates who have aired television ads in the state, though that was expected to change in the coming weeks.

GOP activists have yet to fall in line behind a single candidate, giving hope to candidates languishing at the back of the pack, such as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Bachmann has a lean operation and is keeping much of her focus on Iowa. She could tap into a network of evangelical Christians, if she performs well in Iowa first.

To some, Santorum appears to be the candidate most likely to engineer a surprise.

"Crisis pregnancy centers are strongly behind Senator Santorum," said Karen Floyd, a former South Carolina GOP chairwoman, noting this powerful and wide network of anti-abortion voters who show up on Election Day.

Alexia Newman, who runs a Spartanburg pregnancy center, has been rounding up Santorum support for months because of his strong conservative positions on social issues, even though the economy is taking center stage in the race.

"There's really only one or two candidates really bringing up the debate," Newman said.

Still, the hurdles are high for those candidates.

Consider that conservative Christians who talk kindly of Santorum also finish their sentences with doubt about his ability to capture the nomination.

"There's probably as much of a chance of the Rapture happening by election time as there is for Rick to win the nomination," said Harry Kibler an activist who runs RINO Hunt, a group that criticizes "Republicans in Name Only."

As for Gingrich, the next two months will tell whether he can overcome his hurdles — and make history himself.

___

Davenport reported from Columbia.

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Iowa Up for Grabs Among Republican Voters (ContributorNetwork)

The Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum helped give voters in Des Moines, Iowa, an emotional look at six of the eight major candidates for president in 2012. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were the only no-shows. Hosted by local conservative Bob Vander Plaats, ABC News reports the Family Leader event allowed candidates to reveal stories about their religious faith and conservative values.

Here's a look at why the Family Leader event is so important to American politics at this stage in the race.

Timing

The Iowa caucuses are just over six weeks away. They are the first statewide selection process for the 2012 Republican candidates. Delegates to the national convention will be selected based upon Iowa's results.

The Thanksgiving Family Forum provided a chance for voters to see and hear candidates' stances on conservative issues. It also gives GOP leaders a chance to voice personal stories about their faith. The Des Moines Register reports several candidates teared up telling their stories.

Herman Cain talked about Stage 4 cancer. Rick Santorum spoke of his struggles with his daughter's incurable illness. Rep. Michele Bachmann shared a story about her parent's divorce. Newt Gingrich told of the disabled child he knows during a turning point in his life.

The Family Leader hosted the event to give voters something more than just politics to talk about when it comes to political candidates. Often they open up as to why they share conservative values with personal stories.

Location

Des Moines is the population center of Iowa and the largest city. The metro area has around 563,000 people while Iowa itself has around 3 million inhabitants. Des Moines has between 18 and 19 percent of the state's entire population. Having an intimate event like this in a prominent part of the first voting state is crucial to gauging voter opinion.

The New York Times reported Mike Huckabee won most of Iowa, but the Des Moines area was split between Huckabee and Romney. In 2008, there were seven viable candidates as Tom Tancredo dropped out two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Republican nominee Sen. John McCain was a distant fourth in Iowa before garnering his party's nomination.

Polling

Iowa is a conservative stronghold in America. Those candidates that showed up in Iowa may see a sudden surge in the latest polls in the state. The Christian Science Monitor reports several polls, including one conducted by Bloomberg, show a tight four-way race in Iowa between Gingrich, Cain, Romney and Rep. Ron Paul. Gaining any edge with conservative voters in a close race may be important. The New York Times also shows a close race among four candidates.

Nationally, a Reuters poll suggests Gingrich has gained eight percentage points over the past week. Gingrich came in with 24 percent of likely Republican voters while Romney had just 22 percent. Any polls taken in the next week may see a bump in candidates that showed up at the Family Leader forum. Romney's campaign has been focused in New Hampshire. Events leading up to elections can only heighten awareness for voters and make the process more viable.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

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Iowa up for grabs 2 months before GOP caucuses (AP)

WILTON, Iowa – Iowa's presidential caucuses are any Republican candidate's to win.

Just two months before the GOP nomination voting begins, Iowa Republicans aren't surging toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney even though he's essentially been running for president since losing in the state in 2008.

This time, none of his opponents has emerged as the consensus candidate of conservatives to become his main rival, as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee did four years ago.

As Tamara Scott, an undecided social conservative leader who backed Huckabee in that race, says: "It's anybody's game right now."

That could change soon.

Sensing an opening, Romney is stepping up his Iowa campaign and talking about winning the state after months of taking a more low-key approach. He probably will return to Iowa in November and hold a conference call with thousands of Iowa GOP caucus-goers.

"I'd love to win Iowa, any of us would. I will be here again and again, campaigning here," Romney said recently in Sioux City.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is casting himself as the more conservative option, is starting to confront Romney. With $15 million in the bank, Perry started running a TV ad last week that, without mentioning Romney challenges Romney's efforts to portray himself as the strongest candidate on the economy.

"I'll create at least 2 1/2 million new jobs, and I know something about that," Perry says in the ad that highlights Texas job creation.

Businessman Herman Cain, a political outsider enjoying a burst of momentum, is starting to focus more on Iowa, adding campaign staff and visiting the state recently for the first time in 10 weeks. But he trails both Romney and Perry in fundraising by the millions.

For now at least, the race in Iowa is wide open.

Saturday evening's results of a Des Moines Register poll showed Cain at the head of the pack, with the support of 23 percent of respondents. Romney came in just behind him at 22 percent.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican, placed third at 12 percent, followed by Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 8 percent. Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich polled 7 percent each, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 5 percent.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a moderate on some issues that Iowa Republicans hold dear, was supported by only 1 percent of those participating in the poll.

The up-for-grabs nature of the Iowa race matters nationally because the outcome on Jan. 3 will shape what happens in the states that vote next — New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida — and beyond.

As it stands now, Iowa reflects the Republican Party's lack of clarity when it comes to the crowded GOP field and its increasingly urgent search for a candidate who can defeat Democratic President Barack Obama next fall.

"This is the first time I've waited this long to decide," said Linda Allison, an Iowan who recently attended a Perry event. "I am still waiting to be convinced."

Many factors are adding to the volatility.

Large numbers of Iowa Republicans are undecided and just starting to tune into the race in earnest. Fewer than 20 of Iowa's 76 Republican legislators have publicly declared their support for a candidate, and no single candidate has a clear edge among those who have picked sides. At this point four years ago, nearly all lawmakers had endorsed someone.

Consider state Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, for whom Perry raised money at a recent event in eastern Iowa.

"Perry may not be the best debater, but he can really work an audience like this," said Kaufmann, who endorsed former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson four months before the 2008 GOP caucuses. "And while Romney is well prepared, and campaigns well, I'd like to see him out in this area more."

Critical groups of activists also are waiting to rally behind a candidate, too.

Iowa's evangelical pastors, influential among a part of the GOP base, are divided. So are home-school advocates. Both groups pushed Huckabee to victory four years ago.

"None of these home-school families are calling me and asking me about the candidates," said Susan Geddes, a Des Moines-area Republican and top organizer for Huckabee in 2008. "Nobody's excited about them."

All this explains why many candidates are returning to Iowa in the week ahead for a series of events. Most of the 2012 candidate, but not Romney, courted Christian conservatives at a forum on values last weekend.

The all-out effort to court social conservative is partly why Romney is recalibrating his approach toward Iowa, where he's only made three visits this year.

He has been reached out quietly to past supporters and working to cast himself as the candidate with the strongest economic credentials. Unlike in 2008, he's not overtly competing for the love of social conservatives. These voters, a potent bloc in the caucuses, have had doubts about his Mormon faith and his reversals on several social issues.

So while he's stepping up his Iowa activity, he's also picking his spots.

He's the only major candidate who hasn't committed to appearing in Iowa at Tuesday's forum on manufacturing hosted by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in Pella or the state GOP dinner Friday in Des Moines.

Perry plans to attend both.

He has little choice given that he's lagging in state polls, facing challenges from the right and fighting with rivals for the backing of social conservatives. The former Texas agriculture commissioner and Air Force officer is trying to broad his appeal, reaching out to veterans and farmers as he looks to cobble together a winning coalition and stop Romney.

Bachmann, whose support has cooled since her victory in the state GOP's August test vote, is popular with Christian conservatives and tea party activists. She has heavily sought the support of evangelical pastors and recently named a veteran GOP campaign operative to stabilize the campaign for the stretch run.

Santorum is working hard in Iowa and was expected to have stopped in all 99 counties by week's end, even though he has little money and manpower. He shows no sign of going away and recently began airing his first radio ads in Iowa.

Cain is a bit of a wild card.

He's popular for his business background and plain-spoken speaking style. But he's far behind in building an Iowa campaign and he's under attack by conservatives for referring recently to abortion as a choice. Still, tea party activists adore him and his campaign has recently begun conducting automated phone calls.

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Illegal Immigration Will See No Action with White House Up for Grabs (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) set off a firestorm last week with his comments connecting the devastating Arizona wildfires to illegal immigration. According to the Huffington Post, McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, said, "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally." In light of McCain's comments, illegal immigration is once again dominating national headlines.

A Frustrated Electorate

A Pew Hispanic Center study found in 2010 there were 11.2 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Poll after poll shows an anxiety-ridden nation frustrated by the government's inability to stop the influx of illegal crossings from Mexico. A Rasmussen poll indicates that only 30 percent of Americans believe the border is secure, while 64 percent say it is not. An overwhelming 84 percent of Americans are concerned that illegal immigrants could be an unfair burden on schools, hospitals and government services, according to Gallup. These poll numbers have forced politicians at the state and federal level to address illegal immigration, but a solution has proved elusive.

Legislative Action or Inaction?

Thus far in 2011, state legislatures have introduced 52 bills dealing with illegal immigration. Most of these bills replicate elements of Arizona's controversial SB 1070, which gave law enforcement officers broad powers in deciphering the immigration status of an individual.

Utah's HB497, Georgia's HB87 and Indiana's HB56 all hold provisions allowing law enforcement to check perpetrators' immigration status during an arrest, although the conditions in each state vary. However, states have tried to learn from what happened in Arizona. For example, Utah passed three immigration laws and established a guest worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to work, with one stipulation being that they learn English. Small concessions such as these have done little to quiet critics who take issue with the intrusiveness of the laws.

On the federal level, President Obama has made the DREAM Act the focal point of his immigration reform. The act died last year in the Senate thanks to a Republican filibuster. Under the DREAM Act, "qualifying undocumented youth would be eligible for a six year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service."

At all levels, immigration legislation has run into problems. State laws are continually challenged in courts for violating civil liberties. At the federal level, the DREAM Act has yet to become law despite its reintroduction in May of this year.

Ratings Galore

The media have cashed in on illegal immigration by fueling partisanship. Illegal immigration provides the perfect backdrop for screaming pundits on the left and right. The media have the keen ability to simplify complicated issues into basic arguments. Republicans are portrayed as nativists who desire the expulsion of illegal immigrants because they drain the country's resources and take jobs. Democrats want to continue entitlement programs for illegal immigrants while regular Americans struggle to find work.

For proof, look to Ann Coulter, who has made a living off of chastising liberals. According to the Los Angeles Times, Coulter said, "Then, the Democrats latched on to blacks as another mob to be led - just like women, gays, Hispanics, illegal immigrants, government workers, etc., etc." Representing the left is Keith Olbermann, who once called immigration laws "xenophobic" on one of his "Worst Person in the World" segments, according to the Washington Post. The media continue to paint both sides as "fringe" elements incapable of coming to an agreement.

Playing Both Sides

Sen. McCain's comments simply reminded a country in the economic wilderness that illegal immigration is still an issue. Despite all the political wheeling and dealing, the nation lacks a comprehensive plan for illegal immigration. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Latinos now make up 16.3 percent of America's total population. Pew Hispanic Center points out that in 2008, Hispanics represented 9 percent of the vote. With so much influence, both parties are hesitant to alienate Hispanics. But they also need to create the illusion immigration reform is on the horizon. In reality, heated rhetoric pertaining to illegal immigration will continue yet little will be done on the legislative front. A significant bloc of voters could be lost if either party makes the wrong move before the 2012 elections. Neither party will be moving on illegal immigration with the White House in play.

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