Arizona immigration lawsuit: Obama sails into a political storm

For many Democrats, including Obama, the Arizona law represents a dramatic roll-back of civil rights gains that has to be stopped before it gains steam in other states, creating a patchwork nation of immigration laws.

Fearing the law will usher in a "Jose Crow" era, especially in Southern and Southwestern states, Texas Democrat Garnet Coleman, a state representative, calls the Holder lawsuit "a first step" toward "finally solving our nation's broken immigration system" in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle.

Polls show a vast partisan divide on both the law itself and the federal lawsuit – conservatives generally back Arizona and liberals back the White House. But Gallup reports that 50 percent of Americans overall oppose the Obama administration’s lawsuit and 33 percent support it.

At the same time, some polling threads have emerged that could, in fact, ease the way for the President's immigration reform gambit.

'Amnesty' a key issue

Atlanta Democratic consultant Drew Westen, who conducts both bipartisan polling and focus groups, says that while Arizona law supporters on the whole are frustrated with Washington's failure to take more action along the border, they also want some sort of amnesty for those who are already in the country, according to a story in the Arizona Republic.

"The president and the attorney general … are actually right in line with the American people who say that this is not a state issue, this is a federal issue, (and) it needs to be solved by the federal government," said Mr. Westen, author of "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation."

Selling such a nuanced message in time for the November elections, however, may prove difficult, says former Republican White House staffer Ed Rodgers in a Washington Post reaction piece.

"In politics, a bumper sticker always beats an essay," Mr. Rodgers writes. "Arizona has a bumper sticker that is compelling and clear. It says, 'Do something about illegal immigration, now!' The Obama administration, on the other hand, offers a long-winded essay that only professors could love."

IN PICTURES: The US/Mexico border

Related:

Immigration law in Arizona targeted in Department of Justice lawsuit

Why busy Obama is focusing on long-shot issue of immigration reform

Immigration reform: Arizona lobs political grenade into midterms

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