The immigration reform message

See here for the text of remarks by Presidents Obama and Calderón yesterday.  Obama has boiled the message down to this: I can get the Democratic votes, but I can't get to 60 in the Senate without a few Republicans.  Therefore, if the federal government fails to pass reform, it is entirely the fault of the Republican Party.

Here’s the challenge that we have politically.  The political challenge is, is that I have confidence that I can get the majority of Democrats, both in the House and the Senate, to support a piece of legislation of the sort that I just described. But I don’t have 60 votes in the Senate.  I’ve got to have some support from Republicans.  When we made an effort of this sort a few years ago, it was under the leadership of John McCain and Ted Kennedy.  And because there was a bipartisan effort, we were actually able to generate a majority of votes in the Senate.  And we just missed being able to get it done in the House.

If we can re-create that atmosphere -- I don't expect to get every Republican vote, but I need some help in order to get it done.  And there have been people who have expressed an interest. But if they're willing to come forward and get a working group and get this moving, I’m actually confident that we can get it done.  And the American people -- including the people of Arizona -- are going to prefer that the federal government takes responsibility and does what it’s supposed to do.

It is a clear, simple message.  We'll have to see how much it resonates.  The basic Republican response is that "enforcement first" is somehow possible.  All sides, of course, have the "American people" on their side.