Hillary Clinton just cornered the GOP on immigration

The GOP's 2016 candidates now face a quandary: How can they appeal to Republican primary voters without alienating the general electorate?

Hillary Clinton gives a speech in Nevada.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/John Locher))

Yesterday in Nevada, Hillary Clinton announced her support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and she made a point of contrasting herself with the candidates on the other side. "Not a single Republican candidate, announced or potential, is clearly supporting a path to citizenship," she said. "Not one. When they talk about legal status, that is code for second-class status." Is that an accurate representation of what Republicans have actually said? The answer is, sort of. But they've left themselves just enough room to be hard-edged conservatives in the primaries, and more moderate in the general election.

For now, Republicans would rather talk about Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, which allows them to issue full-throated denunciations that appeal to the Republican base without addressing the substance of the issue, particularly what they plan to do if they succeed in winning the White House.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.