Dobbs set up the discussion with Schneider, Gloria Borger and CNN contributor/liberal talk radio host Roland Martin by showing a report by correspondent Casey Wian about a business owner who refused to hire illegal immigrants, and argued that he ended up suffering because his competitors exploited the cheaper labor of illegal workers. After Borger opined that increasing concern about the economy would lead to the illegal immigration issue moving "front and center" because the two issues are "intertwined," Dobbs brought up CNN's handling of the issue:
Schneider cited the refusal of Democratic candidates to talk about the issue to avoid "stirring up a lot of passion" as the rationale behind the issue's absence in exit poll questions to Democratic voters, but also conceded that "Democrats certainly care about the issue." When asked by Dobbs if it should "bring a sense of shame" to media organizations that they "act in complicity with that motive on the part of these candidates and the Democratic party," Schneider agreed: "I think it should. I think that they should poll on the issues that are of concern to the voters, whether or not the candidates talk about them."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, January 15 Lou Dobbs Tonight, which was repeated on Sunday, January 20, on CNN:
GLORIA BORGER: Well, I think that immigration is going to become a very large issue in this presidential campaign because it is intertwined with the issue of the economy, which in all of our CNN polls and everyone else's polls show economy has now trumped every other issue in the American mind. And when you talk about the economy, immigration is a natural spinoff of that, just as Casey's story showed. So I think it's going to be front and center.
DOBBS: Would it surprise you if I were to tell you right here in front of God and everybody I had to convince CNN a couple of years ago to include illegal immigration in a poll because we didn't even in this organization believe it was an important issue, some of us didn't. Bill Schneider, the idea that the Democratic party is not being polled in exit polls on the issue of illegal immigration, you and I have talked about this, the idea that the national press corps doesn't think it's an important issue for Democrats in making that a priority judgement, your thoughts?
BILL SCHNEIDER: Well, it's not included in polls because the Democratic candidates don't talk about it much. There's kind of an agreement they don't want to stir up a lot of passion on the issue. Democrats certainly care about the issue.
DOBBS: And the national news organizations act in complicity with that motive on the part of these candidates and the Democratic party?
SCHNEIDER: Yes, they do.
DOBBS: But shouldn't that bring a sense of shame to these organizations?
SCHNEIDER: I think it should. I think that they should poll on the issues that are of concern to the voters, whether or not the candidates talk about them.
DOBBS: Amen, brother. Roland, the idea of illegal immigration not being put forward. We could see in poll after poll it was important to Americans all over the country. The idea that the national news media did not force these candidates to deal with the issues of drivers licenses for illegal aliens, the issues of border security. It's remarkable, isn't it?
