Will Obama join the bipartisan embrace on immigration?

I wrote about the bipartisan presentation outlining potential immigration reform earlier. After the last six months, it's impressive to see on any level that the Republicans and Democrats in the senate can agree on, let alone come out together on, any issue. The basics for their proposal were to provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally along with tighter border security. Details to come.

Notable there is that the two are tied together in a similar way to what Speaker Boehner tried to do with spending cuts and tax revenue increases. While that could become a major point of contention, right now both sides are downplaying it in the media. In fact, they both have the same four basic elements in their proposals:

1. Border security
2. Employer enforcement
3. Entry guidelines for farm workers and highly skilled engineers
4. A pathway to citizenship

Let's all pause for a moment to marvel at this fine example of government coming together to address a huge issue that has been nagging the U.S. for decades.

As Mark Landler over at the NYTimes says,

"That could make Mr. Obama’s speech, at a high school in Las Vegas, a novelty in his polarized presidency: a pat on the back to Congress and a pledge to work toward a shared goal."

Now, imagine if Obama came out and gave the speech he's scheduled to give, and rather than talking in depth about his proposal, he just said, "You know what? It looks like Congress is on top of this one. Keep up the good work."

That would get me, a cynical voter, pretty excited. And I think it might be the kind of shot in the arm that we as a country need-- a public spectacle based on politicians working together rather than fighting.

Image courtesy of k flo razowsky via flickr