“One thing I do know from the Clinton years is that presidents need their bases completely fired up and fighting for them when the scandal stuff hits,” progressive strategist Mike Lux told Sargent. “Anything that President Obama does to alienate the base, like cutting Medicare and Social Security, would hurt him badly when he needs the base to the maximum. The scandal talk makes a Grand Bargain less likely.” GOP strategist John Feehery seconded Lux’s assessment, “If enough people in the Republican base believe that the Obama administration is going down in scandal, Republicans are not necessarily going to want to throw him a lifeline by giving him any kind of deal.”
Pro-amnesty Republicans are definitely wary of the perception that passage of Schumer-Rubio could give Obama the comeback moment he needs to turn his presidency around. Hence their insistence, repeated by the Hispanic Leadership Fund’s Mario Lopez last night, that Obama does not want Schumer-Rubio to pass. We’ll see if pro-amnesty Republicans can convince the rest of the party that: 1) Schumer-Rubio is not a repeat of Simpson-Mazzoli; and 2) passage of Schumer-Rubio wouldn’t save Obama’s faltering presidency. They face an uphill climb on both.
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