Immigration and the politics of compromise
One of my themes here has been that the Biden administration and congressional Democrats should actively and publicly seek compromise with Republicans. The events this week illustrate the logic of compromise clearly.
The perceived crisis on the southern border was probably the biggest single threat to Biden’s re-election, or at least the biggest threat that he could take action to ameliorate (unlike the risk of an economic downturn, etc.). Offering to compromise was a “heads Democrats win, tails Republicans lose” proposition. If Republicans rejected an offer to negotiate, Biden could have shifted some of the blame for the current immigration mess to the Republicans. If he managed to get something passed, he could have taken credit for bipartisanship and problem-solving leadership on an issue that is important to voters.
The failure of the Biden administration to grapple with the problems on the border earlier allowed the Republicans to force the Democrats to negotiate from a position of weakness. They took advantage of this and drove a hard bargain. Still, if the bipartisan compromise bill had been passed, Biden could have (and says he would have) taken steps to reduce immigration flows. On the other hand, given that that Republicans have walked away from the deal, Democrats can hammer them for refusing to take “yes” for an answer. (If the Republicans wanted to avoid a deal, they should have agreed to negotiate but then claimed that it was impossible to reach an agreement with the Democrats, and let the whole thing dissolve in a cloud of acrimony. But originally the Republican Senate leadership apparently wanted a deal, until Trump blew the whole thing up at the last minute.)
So why has the administration often been slow to make a show of seeking compromise? I suspect part of the answer is resistance to immigration compromise from the left wing of the party. (I previously discussed the possibility that child welfare activists prevented a compromise on an expanded child tax credit.) If this is what’s going on, it’s a mistake. Democracy is about building coalitions, not burning heretics. The Democrat’s coalition right now is simply not big enough to reliably win elections, even against an extreme party with a manifestly unfit candidate.
Another possibility is that Biden’s time in the Senate taught him that negotiating in private is most effective. Private negotiation is indeed often the best approach, but sometimes negotiating publicly is important, to help the public see where the obstruction is coming from.
I am sorry, but Republicans have no interest in negotiating in good faith. Ask Obama how negotiating with Republicans went.
The average Democrat voters understand what is happening on the immigration bill, but good luck trying to explain that to the average Republican voter.
The real issue is that Republicans do not want to see more brown people coming into the country and they will punish any Republican who dares to vote for any proposal a Democrat presents, even if it gives them everything they want.
These people cheered Texas Governor Abbott when you said that immigrant women and children should be shot crossing the border, they support militia groups moving to the border, and they have supported every possible policy that treats immigrants in the most dehumanizing manner. These are not people willing to compromise and negotiate. Pretending otherwise is a fool’s game.
mike:
You better have some citations for coberly, J.P., and myself. You made the noise, now ante up. I am in no mood for BS after Hur’s uncalled-for inflammatory remarks.
These people cheered Texas Governor Abbott when
youhe said that immigrant women and children should be shot crossing the border, they support militia groups moving to the border, and they have supported every possible policy that treats immigrants in the most dehumanizing manner.Turtles
I agree with you, and think Kramer is being a little naive here. But in general Democrats have failed to “compromise” not so much with the leaders of the Republican Party, but with their base…the people. There are lots of ways they could meet the needs…real or imaginary… of all but the most deplorable. I won’t suggest any here because they just get mired down in an endless debate about things that are non-negotiable to the peope who believe they are until, say, someone like a Roosevelt comes along and does a few things that work, and the people say, “oh, that wasn’t so bad after all.” It’s easier for them to do this when they are not being called names by the heroes on our side.
To be fair, Biden has negotiated with the Republicans on a number of fronts. The Infrastructure Act was the result of that although the Republican spokesperson was a pretend Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin.
Jack:
I agree. Biden negotiating is more than what he did as a Senator at times. He senses the political implications and takes the necessary steps to defuse it. I like him today; although, I still believe he could have done far better on student loans as a Senator.
I too am an advocate of compromise, negotiation and bipartisanship. I built a carrier around it. However, these are different times. There are at least two sides to the Republican Party, just as there are at least two to the Democratic Party. We have discussed here before the impact and dynamic of the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party, who BTW are opposing the Border Compromise. The difference is, at this point, there are more sane Democrats than Republicans.
But, there should be a new rule in town since Donald Trump arrived. Biden and company negotiated with the “Sane Wing” of the Republican Party. It’s essentially the same group that supported the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, although it is currently dwindling and on shaky grounds. The new rule should be that you don’t negotiate with MAGAs (or maggots) who support a criminal who is pursuing a legal battle to the Supreme Court in an attempt to prove that he does not have to comply with the laws of the U.S. If he is denied his wish, he will probably ignore it, just like Texas Governor Abbott has done with the Border issue.
mc jeff
yes.