Not presuming to speak for Derb here and running a bit with what JPod just said (and, perhaps unfairly extending it) …but that’s exactly the kind of insinuation about his critics that I fear the president will make Monday night. I won’t pretend to speak for everyone–because we all know there are actual racists out there, naturally–but the bulk of the mainstream conservatives who are demoralized and disappointed in the president and other Republicans on immigration are not racists, are not xenophobes, are not against immigration. And the debate’s not going to progress any if the president goes that route.
He had frequently spoken of the need for civility in the immigration debate. But you often get the feeling he means–you over there, using the word illegal.