Should Democrats focus on immigration or the economy?

It is possible for parties to walk and chew gum at the same time

This is a short bonus post for Friday, April 18, 2025. See this morning's COTW for data that is relevant to this discussion. I do not intend for this to be a long discussion or a back-and-forth, but I wanted to react to a trend I think is troubling.

I have seen political analysts suggest or imply a few times now that Democrats should not be trying to fight Republicans on immigration in general, and advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia in particular, because the rough GOP stance on deportations is popular.

Some have come out to make this case forthrightly, while others have simply hinted at their point or otherwise made a tangential argument on social media. Matt Yglesias, for instance, has taken the stance that “people who post about politics on social media should talk about immigration if they want to, but should be mindful of downside to making it more salient.” I think this specific framing suffers from fewer problems than the “either immigration or economics” one, but still falls int…