By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Democrats pushing for comprehensive federal immigration reform are getting some help from Republicans still reeling from their drubbing at the hands of Hispanic voters in 2012.
Just months after falling victim to a recall effort, the author of Arizona's immigration crackdown is weighing whether to jump back into another legislative race.
President Obama chose an unusual way to begin the campaign year in Arizona, where he hopes to reverse Democrats' losing streak — by getting into a highly public confrontation with the state's Republican governor.
Don Bivens became the first Democrat to enter the 2012 Arizona Senate race Monday, a move that may indicate that the waiting period for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is over.
He's an Arizona state senator who probably wouldn't be recognized on the street outside of Mesa, yet the recall election of Russell Pearce is poised to become the biggest race of the 2011 cycle.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer insists she won't participate in any more debates after her notorious brain-freeze moment in the first gubernatorial debate, but so far that doesn't seem to be hurting her with the voters.
"I think the political tenor has changed. Republicans got their [behinds] handed to them in 2012, and they see that every year, the percentage of the Hispanic electorate goes up," Arizona political analyst Michael O'Neil said. "They get it that they have to round off the hard edges, or it's going to get really bad for them."
"He's giving every indication he will run," Mr. O'Neil said.
Arizona immigration hard guy ponders another run for office →
