It’s from the Huffington Post, so take it with a huge grain of salt:

Democrats may soon be taking a tougher public position on immigration, according to a confidential study put together by key think tanks close to the party leadership.

The study urges Democrats to adopt more rigid rhetoric when discussing immigration by encouraging office-holders to emphasize “requiring immigrants to become legal” rather than stressing border enforcement and the opening of a path to legalization for the undocumented already here.

Implicit in the report is the notion that Democrats can win wider public support for immigration reform by framing the issue in harsher-sound verbiage and, perhaps, policy.

Titled “Winning The Immigration Debate,” the study was put together by the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Center for American Progress. Its findings, which have been sent to Capitol Hill and have been part of briefing sessions in both the House and the Senate, are based off of polling conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates.

Taken as a whole, the report presents a new prism through which the Democrats should approach the immigration debate. “It is unacceptable to have 12 million people in our country who are outside the system,” it reads. “We must require illegal immigrants to become legal, and reform the laws so this can happen.”

Polling for the study revealed that a larger swath of the public was supportive of “requiring” undocumented immigrants already in the country to normalize their status than there was for only offering them legalization as an option. In addition, the report pushes Democrats to argue that immigrants should be required to pay taxes, learn English, and pass criminal background checks to remain in the country. Those who have a criminal record should be deported. All of these policies were included in last year’s immigration reform compromise legislation, which ultimately failed.

Still a long way from ’secure the border’, but at least they’re starting to look at the problem realistically. Meaning, they perhaps see their earlier efforts as a form of amnesty and that the American people are vehemently opposed to that.

Republicans can own this issue today, if they want, and they would kick the crap out of the Democrats. Secure the border, crack down on employers that hire illegals, and end the policy of catch-and-release. That, my friends, is an indispensible part of any winning campaign strategy. Alone, it won’t win any elections. But without it, you can’t win one, either. John McCain will find that out this November. If he can’t convince people that he has truly seen the error of his ways in regards to “shamnesty”, then no way is he elected as the forty-fourth President of the United States.

Democrats are starting to realize this, I feel. They haven’t totally come around on the issue, but they will eventually, especially when they see it’s a real vote-getter. And when they do, Republicans will find themselves outflanked once again on something they once totally owned.

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