Krugman: Republicans 'Doomed If They Are Only the Party of Old White People'

PAUL KRUGMAN, NEW YORK TIMES: The fact of immigration is going to happen. The question about what we’re going to do about border control, is there some of that in these proposals, but in any case, that’s almost a separate issue.

The question is one of regularizing the status of people here, basically making them legal, bringing them under labor law, all of that. How could you really be against that? It’s — you know, it’s got to be good for everybody to do that.

The Republican Party has a problem. The leadership understands that they cannot — they’re doomed if they are only the party of old white people, to put it bluntly. The problem is their base is old white people. And so the rank-and-file, which answers to the base, which doesn’t fear Democrats, but does fear Tea Party challengers, may not go along. But this is clearly — there’s no possible reason not to do this.