Reply #41: The repubs are indeed good at finding emotional issues (particularly if fear of nonwhites -

[pampango]

like Islamic terrorists - can be worked into their message) which they try to ride to electoral success. They're terrible at governing but pretty good at identifying and politicizing wedge issues to run on.

Rather than let the republicans run in 2010 on support for Arizona's law and avoiding the bigger picture, perhaps Democrats should take advantage of the equal popularity of comprehensive immigration reform as evidenced in this poll - http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/05/a_new_poll_says_ohioans_back_i.html .

"...nearly 70 percent of likely Ohio voters would support a plan that brings illegal immigrants out of the shadows and makes them tax-paying citizens. Ohioans rated a "path to citizenship" as a higher priority than border security and other get-tough measures that are widely perceived as politically safe."

This would pressure republicans to play on our turf rather than us playing on theirs.