On The Speech

Here's a link to the entire speech, courtesy of Instapundit. Here's the text.

And here's the problem, President Bush. While the speech was actually quite a lot better than I feared, it will not placate the hardliners on this issue. The left is, of course, going to oppose it no matter what. So you've lost both of the more more extreme wings on this outright already. The middle may find it fairly acceptable for now.

And on Wednesday, when the promised demonstrations begin again, you will lose the center.

I've been solidly in favor of the fence at the border all along, and the words were encouraging about the "high-tech barrier". That's a plus. Stronger Border Patrol, a weak plus only because realistically, 6,000 is a drop in the bucket. Same with the troops who will not actually be enforcing the border. Weak plus if they can at least help get some of the improvements done. Overall, relatively decent. If the speech had ended here, I think it would have won more backing than the totality will.

Temporary workers. This one makes some sense on a theoretical level, but is predicated on security. I'm not sure enough people will back it. They may, but it was a heck of a risk bringing it up. People are going to see this as a potential back door around policy.

Third - ID cards. Possibly this will be seen as an overall winner. But, it should have been stressed more that there will be a draconian crackdown on willful violators. That would have been a huge success for winning back hardliners.

The fourth point is a real problem. The hardliners will see this as amnesty, no matter what you dress it up with. The open borders crowd will automatically decry it. This one should have been left for future discussion - and it should have been stated that way, I think. As in, "Once we have the border secured we will have some hard choices to make on how to deal with the people who are here illegally".

Fifth point, melting pot requirement is at least going to make people feel a bit better since that is a real problem. Probably an overall weak plus on this point.

I think in trying to appear statesmanlike on this, a real opportunity was missed. An immediate and firm border crackdown - deferring all else until that was finished (or well under way) would have defused almost all criticism.

But when the demonstrations start, it will fall apart. That I will be willing to bet on.

So, that's my quick take on the speech. Feel free to comment, do not make it personal, however, or I simply will get tired of comments in general.

UPDATE: Some reaction from here and there: Flopping Aces, Confederate Yankee, Debbie Schlussel, Gateway Pundit, Captain's Quarters and Betsy's Page.

UPDATE: The White House release including a fact sheet.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Sandbox — Monday, 15 May , 2006 @ 8:17 pm

2. Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » The President’s Immigration Speech — Monday, 15 May , 2006 @ 8:49 pm