Keller @ Large: What Immigration Debate Could Mean For Midterm Elections
BOSTON (CBS) - From protesters shouting "don't you have children?" to his fellow elected Republicans openly clamoring for a reversal, President Trump's been getting an earful about the politically-toxic optics of his family separation policy.
The head of the National Republican Congressional Committee charged with boosting GOP candidates this fall issued a statement denouncing the plan, which some Republicans have compared with President Bush's widely-panned handling of hurricane Katrina.
Longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt has become the latest Republican figure to renounce his party, tweeting a call for "the absolute and utter repudiation of Trump and his vile enablers in the 2018 election."
Even Pope Francis weighed in, calling the family separations "immoral" and "contrary to Catholic values."
But the president and his party have survived papal criticism before.
So will there be long term political fallout from the family separation debacle? Mr. Trump bowed to that concern with Wednesday's reversal, and CNN reports he agreed with anxious Republicans in a meeting last night that "the crying babies doesn't look good politically."
But the White House reportedly remains convinced hardline immigration crackdown is a political winner. And while there's no doubt it's still a potent issue in many places, consider the fate of Georgia State Senator Michael Williams, who ran for governor by driving a "deportation bus" around that conservative state, but finished dead last in the primary.
Then again, people have short attention spans. A spate of illegal immigrant violence this fall could go a long way toward countering the inevitable TV ads featuring the caged kids.
Expect the third-rail issue of immigration to continue as America's most volatile political wild card.