voted for positive reforms? This smells like old Karl.

Amnesty is not going to happen - for many reasons. So, what else can be done? It is taking almost 10 years for someone to get a green card via employer sponsorship. It is taking much longer to get a green card via family sponsorship (except for spouses of U.S. citizens, who have a faster route).

Any reform that happens would be a slap in the face of those who are doing it properly - paying high fees and waiting years in line. To be perfectly honest, there is very little that can be done - if anything - to reform immigration laws and none of the reforms would help someone who entered without inspection anyway.

What, exactly, would they suggest as part of this 'reform' while, at the same time, providing that those who are following the various steps to immigration benefits don't feel left out?

In 2011, among republicans 55% see creating a path to citizenship as a priority (14%) or co-priority with securing the border (41%). A minority of republicans (43%) do not want to see a path to citizenship at all. This is true of all republicans except those over 65 and tea partiers. In both of those cases a majority (57% and 52%, respectively) do not support it at all.



Not surprisingly Democrats are even more supportive of a path to citizenship as a part of immigration reform. 75% of Democrats support it either as a priority (30%) or a co-priority (45%) along with border security.

Democratic politicians (both Obama and in the senate) are generally supportive of this kind of comprehensive reform. The opposition comes from the republican house (particularly the 2010 class of tea party representatives) and the republican minority in the senate that can filibuster this type of reform.

I agree with you that "amnesty" (as the republicans like to call it, since they know that controlling the terminology helps determine the message) is not going to happen, but it is not the Democratic party that is going to prevent it.

GOP platform (page 25): "That is why we oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by intentionally violating the law, disadvantage those who have obeyed it. Granting amnesty only rewards and encourages more law breaking."

and their convention can only have the effect of increasing the odds of electing people who are 100% sure to enact policies 180 degrees different from those that all of these groups want to see.

I have the very reasonable expectation that people apply at least a little bit of common sense to their political acts. This exhibits zero common sense.

and since I think that most immigrants get that Obama can't do anything w/o the repubs voting for it, I think this smells of repub tricks. Rmoney and crew have all kinds of money to spread around, including hiring buses full of people to go around and scream "OBAMA DIDN'T KEEP HIS PROMISES" which seems to be one of their campaign ads too.

against the law to transport illegal aliens?

dumb dumb dumb

Alas, those days appear to be gone now that they're challenging the Democrats to back them.