the so-called “supporters of comprehensive reform” are no such thing – unless they are willing to also address root causes of migration pressure, such as nafta and our other trade / foreign polices that increase migration pressure and our labor policies here which make it harder to absorb more migration w/o it having an negative affect on workers already here.

Point completely taken, selise. This, though, is the inherent problem of an immigration debate where the people most tangibly affected have no political voice.

You really don’t watch CNN, do you?

And just how does his character make Dobbs different from the slug currently occupying the White House? :-)

He also likes to pretend that Democrats are just playing games now that they are “in charge.” He is the new republican poster boy for shallow thinking.

Dobbs does us all a disservice and I would like to think that CNN will consider getting rid of this egotistical clown.

I suppose that if he didn’t laugh all the way to the bank each night, he’d have trouble sleeping.

The perfect storm looms and the old party infrastructures must adapt to become more responsive, or, like the polar bear, face extinction. Many formerly loyal Republicans and Democrats feel as though their parties have betrayed them even as their parties’ leadership have taken their loyalty for granted. Because so many Americans believe the present two party system has become non-responsive, they are becoming disillusioned with both parties, and there are several polls that reflect that fact.

Too many party loyalists seem reluctant to browse much beyond the party gate, so I think party leaders have either missed, or choose to ignore, those polls which reflect a change as dramatic as melting polar ice caps.

I stumbled across a fascinating Gallup Poll from September 2007 that says 57% of all Americans believe a third American political party is needed. The last time the question of whether America is in need of a third party was in October of 2003 and at that time only 40% answered “yes”.

Another CNN poll should also cause most politicians to quiver in their Italian loafers: among registered voters 42% are registered as Independents, only 33% are registered as Democrats and even fewer are registered Republicans: 25%. I am convinced that the percentage of registered Independents will continue to fluctuate until after the primaries when the figures will stabilize with an unprecedented percentage of registered Independents.

I think then that the biggest shock to the two party system will come after the primaries. People on the street and online have told me that they have recently re-registered as Democrat or Republican only long enough to vote in the primaries but that they intend to re-register as independents after the primaries. I’ve lost count of those voters, both conservative and progressive, who’ve told me online and off that they intend to write in the name of their preferred candidate on the 2008 ballot even if their candidate is not nominated by their respective party. I, and MANY more like me, have never voted anything but a straight Democratic or straight Republican ticket, but we are convinced that our loyalty has been taken for granted while our interests have been ignored and our respective party platforms have been abandoned by our party’s leadership.

I was indulging in some wistful thinking of my own, wanting Al Gore to run as the Green Party candidate.

The point is that we progressives are being ignored by the Democratic Party leadership, which which has haughtily decided that we have nowhere to go, so they’ll get our votes in the end anyway.

Stop this merry-go-round! I want to get off!

Bob in HI