“Obama Trifecta” petering out?

A VFR reader came up with the phrase, “the Obama Trifecta,” to describe Obama’s announced intention to transform America fundamentally. The third leg of the Trifecta, after Comprehensive Health Care Reform and Comprehensive Global Climate Change Reform, was Comprehensive Immigration Reform. But Obama’s mention of immigration in the State of the Union address was shockingly minimalistic:

We should continue to work at fixing our broken immigration system to secure our borders and enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.

To which Mark Krikorian replies at the Corner:

That’s it? I was figuring at least three sentences, or maybe two. As Roy Beck put it:

But the President couldn’t bring himself to utter the words “comprehensive immigration reform” or “path to citizenship” or “legalization” or “more immigration” in his State of the Union Address.

If they have any sense, La Raza et al. are kicking themselves for not backing McCain.

[end of Krikorian entry]

* * *

In “My vote,” posted November 3, 2008, in which I explained my decision not to vote for McCain, I wrote:

Contrary to what some seem to believe, the defeat of Obama would not deliver America from leftism, would not deliver it from strife and trouble. It would only launch the left—probably led by Obama himself—into an ongoing war against McCain, the man who loves to cooperate with liberals even more than Bush the back-rubber does—McCain, the man who, last evening, 36 hours before the presidential voting was to begin, bragged to a New Hampshire audience of having worked—twice—with Edward Kennedy in failed efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and promised again to make it a top priority of his administration….

… McCain is of course far more fanatical and committed to open borders than Obama, and continuing mass Third-World immigration represents the greatest threat of existential harm to the nation.

In the discussion following the initial entry, a commenter quoted my statement, “McCain is of course far more fanatical and committed to open borders than Obama,” and asked:

What is the evidence for this? Has Obama said anything even remotely anti-open borders or anti-immigration? Is there any reason to believe that Obama will not smile benignly as the floodgates remain open, knowing that each immigrant is a potential vote for him?

To which I replied:

I didn’t say that Obama was not in favor of open borders, only that he does not talk about it much and does not express the intense commitment to the issue that McCain does.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 01, 2010 12:02 AM | Send