Perusing some of the recent polling on immigration, Kevin really nails the analysis:
Basically, sizable majorities seem to be in favor of practically everything, and the numbers are fantastically sensitive to question wording. People are in favor of a wall, in favor of a guest worker program, in favor of a path to citizenship, in favor of greater enforcement, in favor of whatever you ask them about. Or maybe not depending on how you phrase the question.
Among the many reasons I'd prefer not to be a politician, navigating the remarkable confusion of your constituents as to their opinions on public policy issues ranks high up there. They're for abortion, for abortion restrictions; for lax immigration laws, in favor of draconian enforcement; for going through the UN, enamored with acting unilaterally; for tax cuts, for spending increases; and on and on it goes. The phrase "mutually exclusive" is absent from America's political vocabulary, as is the concept of a "tradeoff." Conservatives, incidentally, long ago had a light bulb moment about this, and began arguing for a host of self-contradictory ends that sounded good but couldn't possibly prove fiscally sustainable in the long-run, and shouted that public policy experts skeptical about the wisdom of such courses were doubting the unquestionable intelligence of the American people themselves.
Well, yeah. Most Americans are not political professionals, they're not policy analysts, or health economists, or foreign policy experts. Take health savings accounts, which require the diligent socking away of money to be effective. Turns out that half of those who hold them haven't deposited a cent. Turns out ordinary Americans aren't terribly good at self-diagnosing and should probably leave it to medical professionals. Turns out there's a reason we have, and value, doctors in this country. When I point this out, various conservatarian commentors screech that I don't trust the American people, and scoff at how (not) far I'll get with a message about public stupidity.
Well, they may be right. I may not get far. But that doesn't make me, or my countrymen, any more intelligent or capable. Which is why I cringe whenever a politician proposes his "common sense" reform for X. On complex policy matters, sense isn't common, and only demagogues or idiots argue otherwise. Americans can generally understand the best course of action once it's presented, but at the beginning, they can rarely volunteer it.
