Did Obama Help Torpedo Immigration Reform?

John McCain made a curious charge through a spokesperson immediately after his talk before the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Arlington, Virginia. He flatly said that his Democratic rival Barack Obama helped torpedo the immigration reform bill in the Senate in June 2007.

This is a serious even inflammatory charge. It probably wont do much to hurt Obamas standing among the majority of Latino elected officials and core Latino Democrats. Polls show that the overwhelming majority of them back him. But it could stir more murmurs among some about his credentials as the change advocate on economic and foreign policy matters, and that includes immigration reform.

Worse, it could raise even more doubts among rank and file Latino voters about Obamas willingness to go to the mat on immigration reform.

This would be a disaster for him. Latino voter support is absolutely crucial in Obamas drive to bag the White House.

In the 2004 presidential election, Bush got nearly forty percent of the Latino vote. Without those votes Democrat John Kerry would have won the White House.

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