Little daylight
Copley News Service

You may have noticed there is one issue not being talked about much in the presidential race, despite that many Americans can't seem to talk about anything else: immigration.

Who would have imagined it? A year ago, it looked as if immigration would play a major role in the election. It didn't. After all the huffing and puffing from some conservatives about how John McCain was an unacceptable choice because he championed comprehensive immigration reform that included earned legalization for the illegal residents, what did Republican voters do?

They turned conventional wisdom on its ear and chose McCain as the Republican nominee. And now that Democrats have all but chosen Barack Obama as their party's nominee, we have a matchup where there seems to be very little daylight between the candidates' views on immigration. They both favor comprehensive reform, and neither puts much stock in the idea of deporting 12 million people or even "Plan B" - creating a hostile environment and hoping that illegal immigrants self-deport.

That the candidates agree on so much concerning this issue may be one reason why neither seems eager to engage it. The issue is always controversial, and, in this case, there is no benefit to either camp. Campaigns are about drawing contrasts in ways that make you look good and your opponent look bad. So, instead, expect Obama to talk about Iraq - and to insist that McCain gets that wrong. Expect McCain to talk about spending - and to argue that Obama gets that wrong. But with all due respect to traditional politicking, there is more at stake here than what benefits McCain or Obama. What is really important is that the American people have a full airing of the candidates' views on immigration so that we can make an informed decision as to which of these two men has the leadership skills to tackle one of the thorniest issue on the domestic agenda.

Since both McCain and Obama have wisely expressed reservations about building more border fencing, what would either man do to secure the border? And what would he do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, in many cases having entered legally and overstayed their visas? If he creates a new guestworker program to fill jobs that - to borrow a phrase - Americans won't do, what safeguards would he build in to ensure workers aren't exploited? And, if he can't persuade Republicans to support employer sanctions and Democrats to support creating a tamperproof identification card that would tell employers who is eligible to work in the country legally, what would he propose to break the impasse?

This is just the opening round. There are plenty of other questions. And we look forward to posing them as the months progress. That is something else that campaigns should be about - getting answers to tough questions so as to get a better sense of who would make a better president.

Questions, we have. What we need are answers. And it is the candidates' job to provide them.

Reprinted from The San Diego Union-Tribune.