shouldn't pandering at least be practical?

politicians' fight for the hispanic vote confuses me.

they make themselves seem soft on illegal immigration because they think it'll make the immigrant crowd like them. it seems to me, though, that that would only appeal to the illegal immigrant crowd, and they can't vote. i'm willing to put my money on the probability that the majority of the legal immigrant crowd does not support illegal immigration because they have put the time and work into following immigration laws. based on what i've heard from that demographic, they see the value in that and consider illegal immigration a slap in their faces. and rightfully so. it makes sense to be indignant toward people who successfully take the easy, illegal road to get to the same place that law-abiding immigrants have worked so hard to get to.

so it comes down to this: it would make more sense for candidates to promote toughness on illegal immigration in order to obtain the votes of immigrants who actually have the right to vote.