The Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona’s controversial immigration law allows both sides to claim a victory of sorts. The ruling was somewhat muddled on the subject of federal intervention when it comes to immigration law.
In a strange sort of way, both President Obama (and the Democrats) and Mitt Romney (and the Republicans) can say that the high court saw their point of view.
Honestly, this decision clearly shows that this debate is not over by a long shot.
However, because the most controversial provision was not struck down by the Supreme Court (the one where law enforcement is allowed to conduct immigration checks on people they arrest or stop for questioning) don’t be surprised if President Obama starts to frame this on the campaign trail as a judicial nominee issue.
He can now go around and make the argument that a second term would mean preventing Mitt Romney from reshaping the court with conservative Supreme Court Justices who, he would argue, would really infringe on the rights of Hispanics. It’s not a slam-dunk argument by any stretch, but don’t think he won’t make it.
In a way, the best news for Romney here is that the split decision means that this story probably won’t dominate the news cycle for too long, therefore allowing Romney to address it quickly and move back to the economy where he wants to stay all day, every day.