How Obama mishandled immigration

Obama’s decision — and the re-thinking of that decision — on immigration will echo for many his famous/infamous declaration of a “red line” against Syria and its use of chemical weapons. In both situations, Obama imposed a set of deadlines on himself that political and policy realities eventually made meeting virtually impossible. (Sidebar: This same sort of danger in deadline/expectation setting is what brought Rick Perry low in that famous/infamous “oops” debate of the 2012 campaign. Never say you are going to name a list of things unless you know said list stone cold.)

And, in promising action prior to the election only to delay it for (at least what appears to be) largely political reasons, Obama has ensured that Republicans can keep the issue alive in the midterms no matter what. “Make no mistake: President Obama plans to grant amnesty, it’s just that he will cynically wait until after the election so as not to harm Senate Democrats like Jeanne Shaheen,” said former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who is challenging Shaheen this fall, in a statement Saturday morning.

President Obama has done his party no favors with how he handled the timing of his executive action on immigration. His choice to delay the announcement until after the election is the least bad option available at the moment but Obama has only himself to blame for the lack of a good choices.