Immigration Issue: Where for art thou?

Although John McCain is still harassed by some on the far right for his support for comprehensive immigration reform, his emergence as the likely Republican presidential nominee and the fact that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton also support CIR signals the de-emphasis of immigration as a lightning-rod issue in the race.

Tim Gaynor of Reuters notes a similar trend:   

PHOENIX (Reuters) – What a difference a few weeks make — at leastwhen it comes to the U.S. presidential campaign and the hot issue ofimmigration.

When the White House race began in earnest with the first partynominating contests in Iowa in January, a broad field of Republicancandidates vied to demonstrate their toughness on illegal immigration,pledging more border enforcement and a crackdown on illegal workers.

But with a narrowing of the races to secure the Republican andDemocratic nominations ahead of November’s general election, the issuecould slip lower down the agenda as far as the candidates areconcerned, analysts say. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh