Perry's Immigration Problem

New York Times: In 2007, Senator John McCain of Arizona discovered the hard way that a moderate approach to illegal immigration was a nonstarter in the Republican presidential contest. At every town-hall style meeting that year, conservative voters stood up and assailed Mr. McCain for pursuing a “pathway to citizenship” and accused him of supporting amnesty. The issue scared donors, drove activists away and nearly derailed Mr. McCain’s White House bid. Now, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is facing the same challenge. At the debate here on Thursday night, Mr. Perry was attacked ferociously by his rivals for supporting tuition discounts for children of illegal immigrants who attend Texas colleges. Like Mr. McCain, Mr. Perry refused to back down, declaring that if someone opposes the policy, “I don’t think you have a heart.” And like they did to Mr. McCain, the audience quickly turned against Mr. Perry, loudly booing his position on the issue and his refusal to give an inch. Mitt Romney seized on Mr. Perry’s immigration remarks Friday morning, mocking the Texas governor for saying that immigration opponents don’t have “a heart.” “I think if you are opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a heart. It means you have a heart and a brain,” Mr. Romney told attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Strategists for Mr. Perry’s rivals were beside themselves with glee after the debate because they know what a difficult spot Mr. Perry now finds himself in. One of the chief selling points for Mr. Perry has been that his policies and personal narrative would help fire up the base of the Republican Party, and especially the Tea Party movement. But those were the very people who were booing him Thursday over immigration (and also on his actions to require an HPV vaccine for girls). In a Fox News focus group after the debate, participants called Mr. Perry’s “heart” comment “disgusting.” For Mr. Perry, the dilemma is how to repair the damage that his immigration comments have created without leaving the impression that he is ready to flip-flop on the particular issue of tuition assistance for immigrant children. That will be difficult for several reasons. First, Mr. Romney and his aides are ready to pounce at the first indication that Mr. Perry is backing away from his previous views. They will use that to undermine his other narrative — of a hard-charging governor who is anything but wishy-washy. Second, Mr. Perry’s campaign by necessity must spend plenty of time in Iowa and South Carolina in the coming weeks. Those are two states where the issue is still very raw and where Mr. McCain found the voters to be particularly unforgiving. Third, the tuition assistance program that Mr. Perry supported in Texas is very similar to the national Dream Act that Mr. Obama, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader, all supported. The moderator of the Fox debate on Thursday even referred to it as the Texas Dream Act. The more that his rivals attach Mr. Perry to an Obama-like policy, the harder it will be for him to convince conservative, Tea Party voters that they should not hold it against him. Can Mr. Perry figure a way out of the immigration box? Mr. McCain did in 2007. After rebuilding his campaign in New Hampshire, Mr. McCain found a new way of talking about immigration. He insisted he still supported a “pathway to citizenship,” but said that Republican voters were right to demand border security first. By emphasizing the timing, Mr. McCain quieted the critics. (It also helped that the legislation he had been pushing in the Senate was shelved, taking the immediate threat of an amnestylike bill off the table as an issue.) It may be that Mr. Perry can try to focus on the benefits of educating illegal immigrants in Texas, a point he tried to make repeatedly in the debate. “We need to be educating these children because they will become a drag on our society,” Mr. Perry said. “I think that’s what Texans wanted to do.” But his rivals are not going to let him reshape the conversation if they can help it. Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, insisted that the issue was the money. “The point is, why are we subsidizing?” Mr. Santorum asked. “Not that they can’t go. They can go. They just have to borrow money, find other sources to be able to go. And why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? That’s what we’re saying.” Those are questions that Mr. Perry will have to answer. And he probably has to answer them soon.