Reply #21: Good policy? Bad policy? I don't care. It is dumb politically

[LVZ]

This is one issue where Hillary quickly needs to change position before it becomes "the" catastrophic losing election issue for Democrats. I am amazed that, in this case, the politically savvy Clintons did not recognize American political reality: people vote on emotions, not logic, and not practicality.

It took the Democrats decades to finally concede that publicly supporting gun control was political suicide, except in very rare situations. Personally I prefer the common European model of outlawing all guns except for hunting and legitimate law enforcement, to include tough penalties for any illegal gun possession. As a candidate in the gun-religion culture of the USA, however, you'd have to be a blinded idiot to not realize that such advocacy would neither get you elected nor ultimately further the cause of even modest gun control.

Illegal immigration is the new "hot button" emotional issue. Just like guns, for many it is a black and white topic, practical interim and partial solutions be damned.

Whoever wins the "which issue is most important" war in 2008 will determine the outcome. If Democrats can make the issue ending the disastrous and costly war, Hillary wins big time. If Republicans can shift enough attention to "fear and prejudice" (their specialty) about illegal immigration, they win. That is, of course, unless the Democrats suppress their overly idealistic tendencies, and get ahead of this "emotional" issue. After the election, they willl have a better environment to thoughtfully address practical solutions to complicated problems.