Okay, quick: What cable or network news show hasn't Jeb Bush been on in the past 48 hours? And more importantly, does he want undocumented immigrants to be given a pathway to citizenship, or simply "permanent legal residency"?
That's become an important question as we reach day two of a major media offensive that has the former Florida governor showing up on television and in print pieces (like today's USA Today cover story). Bush co-wrote a new book called Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution, which has surprised people because he and his co-author, Clint Bolick, pull back from arguing that the estimated 11 million undocumented people in this country should not get a pathway to citizenship. In fact, he argues that such immigrants should be granted "permanent legal residency" after pleading guilty to breaking the law and paying "applicable fines or perform community service." But they should not have access to citizenship.
Yet this morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Bush said he could support a path to citizenship now that Republican lawmakers like Marco Rubio and John McCain have joined with Democrats on a proposal that would do exactly that:
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2013.