GOP Struggles With Immigration and Looks To Romney for Direction

GOP GRAPPLES WITH IMMIGRATION, LOOKS TO ROMNEY – My story for POLITICO this morning: “Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions says Congress must first ‘end the lawlessness’ by illegal immigrants. Arizona Sen. John McCain still wants his protégé, Marco Rubio, to roll out his version of the pro-immigrant DREAM Act, though the ambitious freshman senator has all but ruled out doing so anytime soon. And Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) concedes he flat-out doesn’t know what his party’s next step on immigration will be. Congressional Republicans are everywhere and nowhere on immigration. Pulled between their get-tough conservative base and the reality that adopting such a hard line could cost them dearly with Hispanics in November, they’re doing the ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ equivalent of phoning a friend – party standard-bearer Mitt Romney – for help. But Romney, so far, doesn’t seem to have a clear answer, either.” http://politi.co/LAJ2UM

–The Washington Post’s Dan Balz writes that Romney wants to lead on immigration but hasn’t said how: “Mitt Romney has had a lot to say about immigration over the past few days, but what he has said adds up to a giant question mark. Rarely has a presidential candidate had as many opportunities to clarify or recalibrate his position on a vital issue, and rarely has a candidate passed up those opportunities as consistently as the former governor.” http://wapo.st/KD2OZO