Barack Obama chooses the worst possible partisan action on immigration issue.

I say this as a RiNO pro-amnesty squish: this decision is senseless.

Abandoning his pledge to act by the end of summer, President Barack Obama has decided to delay any executive action on immigration until after the November congressional elections, White House officials said.

The move instantly infuriated immigration advocates while offering relief to some vulnerable Democrats in tough Senate re-election contests.

…in no small part because it will not, in fact, give any relief to vulnerable Democrats (all of whom I want to see defeated at the polls, by the way).  The President has picked the worst possible solution, even if you assume that Barack Obama basic motivating principle is rank partisanship (which it is).  And here’s why: doing something out of rank partisanship implies that you expect to get something back.  But there’s nothing to get back, here.

No, seriously.  Barack Obama has just told his own base that – yet again – he’s going to delay acting unilaterally on immigration, after promising them that he would not.  How can they know that Obama won’t break the next promise to them, and the one after that, and the one after that? – They don’t; and while politicians lie to their base all the time and get away with it politicians are usually not simultaneously trying to get their base to out perform Presidential-year turnout in a midterm election.

Contrariwise, while ‘I will act after the election’ might be heard by the Left as a promise, the Right will hear it as a threat.  And the GOP will take the threat seriously, even if the Democrats can’t let themselves do so with the promise.  The attack ads are being written right now:

We know Barack Obama will going to do something really extreme. He’s made clear that he will act, and he’s afraid to do it before the elections. Who do you trust to answer the President – me, or the party shill who just got elected and owes him a favor?

Got that suggested text from a friend of mine.  But see Rick Wilson, or Jim Geraghty or even me; this is all very basic stuff, and we can all attack Barack Obama for breaking his own promises in a transparent attempt to avoid political DOOM as naturally as we can breathe. Because, when it comes down to it, we’re right about the situation and the Democrats themselves know it.  They just hate admitting it, because, well, wouldn’t you?

Moe Lane (crosspost)