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A culture war over immigration replays the racialized debate that dominated the 2016 presidential campaign. As much as it saddens me to say it, the evidence is pretty clear that a racialized debate helps Trump. Its the kind of debate that will make it harder for Democrats to retake the Senate and House this year.

Multiple studies have found that the political views of white Americans drift to the right when they are reminded that the countrys population is slowly becoming less white. And many of these voters are winnable for Democrats. A good number, remember, voted for Barack Obama. They may have some racist views many people do but theyre neither deplorable nor irredeemable human beings. Steve Bannon, the guru of white nationalism, understood this dynamic, once saying, The Democrats, the longer they talk about identity politics, I got em.

Similarly, some innovative polling by YouGov has found that a large portion of white Americans see prohibiting discrimination against women and minorities as one of the Democratic Partys top priorities. Unfortunately, few white Americans who arent already loyal Democrats say the same issue is one of their own priorities. Theyre more worried about their own struggles, many of which are economic. Its a political liability for Democrats, Doug Rivers, YouGovs chief scientist told me, in the same way being the party of the rich is a problem for Republicans.

I know that many progressives are sick of hearing about white voters, but its extremely hard to succeed in American politics without winning a good portion of them. About 69 percent of eligible voters are non-Hispanic whites. They have outsize power too, thanks to a combination of their turnout rates, their geographic dispersion, gerrymandering and the Senates small-state bonus.

Briahna Joy Gray wrote a must-read essay on this topic for New York magazine, titled, Racism May Have Gotten Us Into This Mess, but Identity Politics Cant Get Us Out. Or as Matthew Yglesias wrote in Vox last week, If you want to help the people most severely victimized by Trumpism, you need to beat Trumpism at the polls.

The best debate for Democrats is one that keeps reminding white working-class voters that theyre working class. Its a debate about Medicare, Medicaid, taxes or Wall Street. The worst debate is one that keeps reminding those voters that theyre white.

To put it another way, if youre a Democrat whos frustrated that Republicans have managed to turn the shutdown into a fight over immigration, ask yourself: Why would they do that?

Democratic leaders are certainly right to insist on protection for the Dreamers. The question is whether the best way to protect them, and the best way to elect politicians who will help them in the long term involves keeping immigration policy in the political spotlight for weeks on end.

The smart move now for Democrats is to accept a short-term funding bill that ends the shutdown and defuses the tension. Republican leaders are open to that solution, because they have their own vulnerabilities. Their party is the majority party, which is often blamed for dysfunction.

That solution feels a bit unsatisfying, I know. But tactical retreats can lead to big victories in the future.

Read more here:
The Democrats Are Right and Should Settle