This is an issue that should be raised often because it is a central preoccupation of very large numbers of Americans and because people now look at the Republican program, the Bush program, as being a disaster.

Large-scale public projects require the agreement of large numbers of people.

[For both, it's a way to woo a public increasingly skeptical of sweeping pronouncements or simple solutions.] We are in an era when specificity is a sign of credibility, ... Do the numbers add up? Do the proposals work? There have to be enough details to satisfy [critics] that it's real and it's sensible.

It is different when you face a foreign enemy on the one hand versus a domestic failure on the other.

There is a clear view that families that are here, that are working, paying taxes and contributing to society ought to be able to get regularized status. On the other hand, there is a view about not rewarding illegal behavior.

I understand that people are conflicted and clearly see this as a vote of conscience, but from a purely political point of view, the Democrat activist base has long been concerned that our party is too accommodating with Bush.