The National Guard as border enforcement presents a very difficult issue for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Does he play to the Right and send them down there? Or does he play to the Left and reject the President's request. Schwarzenegger is attempting to play to some sort of middle ground. Of course, he is being helped a bit by the fact that the actual mission of the Guardsmen is totally unclear. They won't act as border patrol people, so what exactly are they going to do? It at least gives him some room to wiggle for the time being. Added to that is the fact that the federal government has yet to appropriate any money to pay for this guard service. But ultimately, there will be some sort of reckoning here. Either he sends them or he doesn't.
But the governor continues to refuse embracing either side's all-or-nothing approach. He has said he does not like the idea of sending Guard troops to the border, but he has also said he would consider doing so, if it were a temporary solution.
And therein lies his problem. The governor is getting toasted as a waffler who is either pandering to both conservatives and liberals, especially Latinos -- or scared to rile either in an election year.(CC Times 5/21/06)
Immigration is such a challenging issue, for both Dems and Reps. I'm not sure how a Democratic governor would deal with this issue either. Would it be a natural for Gray Davis to just reject it out of hand? I doubt it. But, Schwarzenegger's waffling and lack of decisiveness is a problem. He has yet to say anything of substance on the immigration issues of the day. California's governor should have some sort of position on these issues and provide leadership. Shwarzenegger has not.
