Why I Like Howard Dean

CNN's article about Howard Dean's most recent remarks begins like this:

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued Friday that Republicans will make immigrants the "scapegoats" in the next election.

At a rally, Dean garnered the loudest applause when he said Republicans would make immigration a pivotal issue during upcoming elections, as they did gay marriage and affirmative action in previous elections.

"Do you know who the scapegoats are going to be? Immigrants," he said. "In Colorado, the chairman of the Republican Party endorsed Tom Tancredo for re-election. That is morally reprehensible. The governor of California, a supposed moderate Republican, invited the Minutemen to visit California. We do not need vigilante justice."

There a number of things that can be said about this but a few in particular jump out. First, the use of the word scapegoat is a bit too cynical (even for a bitter Democrat). Illegal immigration is a valid campaign issue. It's an issue reasonable minds can disagree on and it's an issue that one would expect the rival political parties to take seriously and offer plausible solutions to the problems it presents. If in Dean's mind the Republicans are scapegoating any time they try to run on an issue, then it would seem that Mr. Dean has little confidence in competing in the arena of ideas. Rather than counterpoint whatever approach the rival party may take to immigration, Dean tries to disqualify the GOP entirely--portraying them as mean brutes taking cruel advantage of a defenseless, underprivileged group of people. Were Dean a shrewd politician, he would offer ideas and not invectives. He would craft a Democratic approach to tackling the problem of illegal immigration that would put the Republicans on the defensive.

Dean's failure to go this route demonstrates the Democrats' greatest problem: they are more inclined to go for the cheap shot to get a rise out of the far left rather than craft a more moderate approach (in process and substance) that would do more good for the country AND for their political fortunes.

In reading Dean's comments, I couldn't help but notice that Dean is basically saying "Hey, look at the Republicans! They're going to talk a lot about immigration in the next campaign. Shame on them." Proof again that every time Dean opens his mouth the GOP gets more votes. Just from a political point of view, this guy is crazy. Why in the world would he want to point out to everyone that the Republicans want to address illegal immigration while at the same time make it clear that the Democrats think that's a mean-spirited thing to do? A majority of Americans think that illegal immigration is a serious problem facing this country. You would think Dean would be directing his party in such a way that they could capitalize on this concern. But instead, it seems that Dean and the Democrats are more afraid of losing their Hispanic block of votes than the Republicans are afraid of not gaining any.

This raises another point. Both parties have been acting like idiots when it comes to this issue. Republicans have a lot to loose, though, when it comes to illegal immigration because more people expect more out of them. Most people know the Democrats never have taken this issue seriously, and I think few expect them to risk the millions of Latino votes they have in their pocket. Unfortunately, Republicans of late have been too tempted by the recent success they've had increasing their share of Hispanic votes in the last three elections to address the issue as needed. Whichever party comes across as the more serious about addressing head on the illegal immigration problem will gain seats in 2006 and will have a substantive advantage when it comes to winning the crucial block of independent voters in 2008.

For now, it looks that however lame the GOP's approach to immigration is, the Democrats will make it look good.