Wednesday, February 13, 2008

An avalanche of support for Obama





Obama's outstanding win in Virginia brings in doubts about the virulent anti-immigration movement that has been reported so well in the media. If in Virginia, so many people want immigrants to disappear, then why is Obama getting so much of the vote?

While some Clinton supporters say that Obama betrayed immigrants in voting for the Border Fence - what about a continuation of an administration that passed the harshest anti-immigration law in the 20th century?

Of course, in the end, Obama could be swayed in political negotiations and turn anti-immigrant (always a possibility) - it is a gamble either way.



-----
From the Washington Post
February 13, 2008

Democratic Primaries



Virginia

Barack Obama 619,036 64
Hillary Clinton 345,018 35
Other 9,167 1

Precincts: 99% | Updated: 7:12 AM ET | Source: AP


District of Columbia
Barack Obama 85,534 75
Hillary Clinton 27,326 24
Other 886 1

Precincts: 98% | Updated: 1:14 AM ET | Source: AP

Maryland

Barack Obama 439,979 59
Hillary Clinton 273,828 37
Other 26,326 4

Precincts: 92% | Updated: 7:18 AM ET | Source: AP


photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/us/politics/09cnd-campaign.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think you should assume that Bill and Hillary will have the same policy in regards to immigration. Spouses have different political views all the time like Arnold and Maria Shriver and political strategist, James Carville and his wife.

Both Obama and Hillary have the same immigration record; most importantly, they both support the Dream Act and CIR. Also, Hillary and Obama also voted for the border fence and will not include undocumented people in their health care plans.

All I care about is a path to legalization and extraneous topics like driver's licenses only serves as a wedge issue for the population at large and negatively affects CIR or DREAM's chances.

C_D

Marie-Theresa Hernández, PhD said...

You have a point about not assuming that Bill and Hillary will have the same policies... I was thinking they would be different until Bill threw himself into her campaign a couple of weeks ago with the "fairy tale" comment and a few other things he said.

It is true that Carville and Matlin have distinct positions, but many married couples move with the same wave.

There has been lots of discussion in the DREAMER community of Houston about the issue of focus - and if its more important to zero in on the DREAM ACT or look at the whole CIR package.

Worth more consideration.

thanks for your comments

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, a reply! Thanks professor!

For the record, I am a Hillary supporter even though I can't vote.

I do think that both Hillary and Obama should be judged on their own merits, on their records as elected officials (and before elected office), and on what they say they're going to do as President. Obama should be commended for his support of driver's licenses. But Hillary should also be commended for proposing Universal Pre-Kindergarten (which will help so many families especially single mothers - I don't think Barack's plan goes so far as to guarantee universal Pre-K) as well as a true universal health care plan.

The main reason I like Hillary is that I think she will fight more towards her goals. Obama is a great guy, but I'm kind of leery about his "coming together" and "blaming partisanship" rhetoric. We compromised so much on CIR and Dream Act to the opposition (mostly Republicans) and yet they still didn't want anything to do it. I trust Hillary will be a fighter and know when to stand her ground and when to compromise instead of compromising for the sake of "unity."

What do you think? The Texas primary is coming up too!

C_D

Marie-Theresa Hernández, PhD said...

I have the same concerns about Obama. Yes, it's true he is very exciting... and it is great that he has the whole country going. But excitement does not equate success in office. The big question is - will he be able to work with Congress to actually get some things done?

We really won't know if he is all fluff until he's in the job. At the same time, Hillary has lots of experience - really knows how to work the system, but she seems to rile people - I don't know if she will be able to form a coalition.

The Texas Primary should be very interesting.