If you want to read my full blog on the speeches tonight and to join the conversation with others, please go to: https://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/january-28-2014/obamas-sotu-buries-immig ration-front-without-any-detail-then-properly
JUST A PARAGRAPH.
That's all Pres. Obama devoted to immigration in his State of the Union address earlier tonight. Mercifully! (See it below.)
And his paragraph didn't have any specifics because he didn't want to risk offending the only audience that really mattered for it -- the Republicans who hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In just a few hours, the House Republicans will be scraping the snow off their windshields and driving over to the Chesapeake Bay for a three-day retreat. Later today, the House Republican leadership will devote a session to trying to sell the Members on some principles that have been reported as including mass legalization and work permits for illegal aliens.
Pres. Obama didn't want to do anything that would undermine Speaker Boehner and his leadership team's pro-amnesty efforts this week.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAMERA LENS
The person most interesting during any State of the Union is the Speaker of the House of the other party. How will he or she react to each line that is causing Members of Congress to jump up in ovations?
Speaker Boehner found himself in a tough position after the President's first immigration sentence that ended with a call to "fix our broken immigration system."
Vice President Biden quickly moved to his feet as did all Democrats in a pretty resounding ovation.
Mr. Boehner knew the cameras were on him. His corporate donors want him to give Mr. Obama what he wants. All indications are that Mr. Boehner wants that, too. But Mr. Boehner also had earlier this morning seen a strong negative reaction from his Republican Members to the news reports about a possible GOP legalization plan. Does the Speaker rehearse his reactions ahead of time? What would he do on this one?
I was relieved that Mr. Boehner didn't seem to have the slightest inclination to stand the way leaders of the "other party" sometimes feel they have to when baseball, mom and apple pie are being lauded. Instead, Mr. Boehner gave a non-commital facial expression and slowly applauded while remaining seated.
The camera swung to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who was giving a moderate applause while looking very serious. At the edge of the camera shot was the No. 3 House Republican Kevin McCarthy also being careful not to look too enthusiastic, despite recently saying that he looked forward to moving legislation that gives work permits and legalization to most illegal aliens.
I'm not bothered by a little polite applause because there is a strong pressure for people to show the TV audience that they aren't just opposed to everything the other party puts out. Plus, I favor "immigration reform," too -- the reform that Barbara Jordan's bi-partisan Commission on Immigration Reform urged.
It looked like maybe a half-dozen Republicans were confident enough of their constituents to stand with the Democrats in the ovation. But all Republicans were sitting with their hands in their laps or just politely clapping.
At the end of the President's immigration paragraph, there was more heavy applause. The camera caught Mr. Cantor not joining at first and then offering a pretty slow clap.
I'm not going to read too much into what the various body language tells us about where these GOP leaders stand but I think it tells us worlds about where they think their constituency stands.
After all those Republicans were hammered all day with our phone calls, they have a taste of just how bad the reaction could be if their party were responsible for passing some kind of amnesty this year.
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