'Tough, Fair And Practical': Magic Words

Two different senators slipped the same four-word slogan into their immigration sales pitch on last weekend's Sunday talk shows.

"The reason we're going to pass this bill is because it is tough, fair and practical," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said on ABC.

Ditto for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) an hour later on CNN: "I want an immigration policy that is tough, practical and fair."

Flip through statements from Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), listen to press conferences or floor speeches from other Senate Democrats, and it sounds like everybody is looking to get tough, fair and practical on immigration.

This isn't a coincidence.

The pithy phrase was the product of months of research, 1,200 telephone interviews and deepening concern among Democrats that they would lose control of the emerging wedge issue.

A year later, the "fair, tough and practical" tagline devised by Third Way, a centrist strategy group, is seeping into the Democratic lexicon. Despite initial misgivings by advocates, who are loath to describe immigrants as a drain on taxpayers, more Democrats are embracing the language as a simple way to explain an exceedingly complex issue.

The movement of this message -- from concept to cable television -- provides a window into the way legislative battles are waged. Legislators believe that it's not just about the policy or the details or even the facts -- it's the words used to describe them that determine whether a position receives popular support.

"If you can boil it down into something that is understandable, true and gets people to nod their head 'yes,' then you have won the battle," said Jim Kessler, the vice president for policy at Third Way. "If people think of this as an amnesty bill, then you are in trouble. If they think of it as tough and comprehensive and fair, then you are in good shape."

The Senate Democratic caucus distributes Third Way's immigration memos, the latest of which, in a June 19 dispatch, scolded members for having "completely lost their messaging discipline." And the group's PowerPoint presentation, titled "Winning the Immigration Issue," receives private viewings by senators, chiefs of staff and legislative directors.

"It has really helped Democrats talk about this issue in a way where they could manage the wicked crosscurrents of the debate," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. "It is one thing to determine where you stand on immigration policy. It is another thing to communicate it effectively."

Of course, the verdict is out on whether the message will break through or the strategy will work. On Wednesday, the Senate began debating 26 amendments ahead of a crucial vote set for Thursday to move the bill toward final passage.

The immigration debate has largely played out as a battle over messaging.

Opponents on the Senate floor lean heavily, as they have for years, on the word "amnesty" to describe the bill. "A very powerful word," Kessler said.

Supporters of the immigration overhaul -- particularly Democrats -- have a more difficult job because polling on the issue is as consistent as the Richter scale during an earthquake.

Recent surveys, including those conducted this month by Rasmussen Reports and Democracy Corps, show deep voter skepticism about any legislative fix. But when pollsters test individual concepts, the picture becomes murky.

For example, polling done last year by the Benenson Strategy Group for Third Way showed that 83 percent of voters supported the comprehensive immigration bill that failed last year in Congress. But at the same time, 60 percent said it would be a good idea to deport all 12 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries -- even though most found the solution unrealistic.

A majority considered illegal immigrants hard-workig people, but they also found them to be a burden on taxpayers.

"People's compassion toward illegal immigrants, which is real, ends where their taxpayer interests begin," Kessler said. "So you have to sell the legislation as fair to taxpayers."

Add to the equation the fact that voters perceive Democrats as overly lenient on illegal immigration, and the issue becomes a messaging quagmire.

Kessler eventually simplified it to three words: "tough" (on border enforcement), "fair" (to taxpayers) and "practical" (in terms of restoring the rule of law).

The response from advocates wasn't overwhelming.

During a meeting last year between Kessler and 30 representatives of pro-immigrant groups, "the first half-hour was advocates trying to complain about the questions because they didn't like the results," said Sharry, who was a skeptic.

In his view, the idea that immigrants are a drain on taxpayers is a myth. "But (I) will never win that argument," he said, so it was time to move beyond it and accept a message that deals with it.

To this day, Sharry said, "you don't see a lot of advocates using those messages."

But it has been appropriated by Democratic senators -- chief among them Reid, who regularly describes the bill as "tough, fair and practical." So have Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

Wyden said he has used the phrase at town hall meetings, and last Sunday on CNN, because "at that point, you try to be as succinct as possible."

Its origins, he said, were unknown to him, although he suspects he has heard colleagues use the phrase and he considers it effective.

"I don't think I have even seen a memo from that group," Wyden said of Third Way.