Party Leadership from the Oval Office: The Politics of Immigration Reform.

This paper examines President Bush’s actions on immigration reform within the broader scope of their impact on the party system. Using survey data throughout the Bush presidency, I show that Bush’s political confrontation with the Republican leadership in Congress had a significant effect on the party system. Specifically, by diverging from his party and advocating for an immigration reform that would allow, under certain circumstances, a path to citizenship, President Bush was able to regain Republican control over the issue. This, I argue, had important consequences to the issue alignment at the starting point of the 2008 race. Using this case study, I further engage with the debate on the effect of going public on presidential policy success. I argue that by using the microphones presidents might have limited ability to influence their fellow politicians in Washington; yet, they can influence the political debate and demonstrate party leadership, which can serve as an important political tool in the long run. They can, using Woodrow Wilson’s words, “control their party ideals and principles” for years to come. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]