In an attempt to regain the support of his right-wing base, Bush delivered a speech on immigration yesterday described as a “rhetorical pound of flesh.” Last year, Bush’s support was more secure, and his rhetoric was more moderate. Here’s a look at how Bush’s approach and rhetoric on immigration has changed with the political winds:
| January 7, 2004 | November 28, 2005 |
| Audience: “Bush is already giving up some symbolic territory. When he announced his guest-worker plan in 2004, he did so before an audience of 200 Latinos.” [Time, 11/27/05] | Audience: His “audience included border patrol agents and military troops. He was flanked by two black Customs and Border Protection helicopters and giant green and yellow signs that said ‘Protecting America’s Borders.’” [Washington Post, 11/28/05] |
| Nature of America: “By tradition and conviction, our country is a welcoming society.” [White House, 1/7/04] | Nature of America: “The American people should not have to choose between a welcoming society and a lawful society. We can have both at the same time.” [White House, 11/28/05] |
| Strategy: “Reform must begin by confronting a basic fact of life and economics: some of the jobs being generated in America’s growing economy are jobs American citizens are not filling.” [White House, 1/7/04] | Strategy: “Our strategy for comprehensive immigration reforms begins by securing the border.” [White House, 11/28/05] |
| Solution: “If an American employer is offering a job that American citizens are not willing to take, we ought to welcome into our country a person who will fill that job.” [White House, 1/7/04] | Solution: “The first part of the plan is to promptly return every illegal entrant we catch at the border, with no exceptions.” [White House, 11/28/05] |
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