And the Beneficiary of Arizona’s SB 1070 is . . . . Governor Jan Brewer

 
Most of significant immigration provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 never went into effect.  Still, the law  has had a tangible benefit — a political benefit for Arizona Governor Jan Bewer, who is running for re-election.  As the L.A. Times reports,

“In a year that sees incumbents across the country dropping like flies, an unlikely one is in a very comfortable position: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. Only six months ago, Brewer presided over a state with a dire budget deficit. She had two dozen challengers in the Republican primary and her approval rating was well below 50%. Then a tough new immigration law landed on her desk. Brewer signed SB 1070 and became the biggest defender of Arizona’s get-tough stance on illegal immigration.  Now she leads her November opponent, Democratic Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard, by a 3-2 margin in polls. Even after a painful debate performance — which featured a 16-second pause when Brewer forgot her opening statement — her numbers improved.”

Brewer’s resurgent re-election campaign, which resembles California Governor Pete Wilson’s campaign in 1994 with his backing of California’s Proposition 187 (which helped him get reelected but resigned him to more than a decade of political oblivion), tells us something important about how some political leaders play on fears and concerns over immigration and immigrants for their own political benefits.

UPDATE (Sept. 20):  To see Governor Brewer deny that she is anti-Latino — “I love them from teh bottom of my heart”, click here.  

KJ