Obama shares his biggest surprise at Univision forum about not being able to pass immigration reform

LatinaLista — The President’s turn on Univision’s “Meet the Candidate” forum hasn’t even aired yet but word is leaking that Univision anchors Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos didn’t cut him any slack.

Like the professional journalists they are, they grilled the President on his record in office, especially on immigration reform. Ramos even scolded the President by saying, “A promise is a promise. And with all due respect, you didn’t keep that promise.”

The President answered in part by repeating the same things he has said in the past: He’s but one branch of the government and that 60 votes are needed to pass it in Congress, regardless of who has the majority,etc. Yet, he did say something that he hasn’t talked enough about:

And what I confess I did not expect — and so I’m happy to take responsibility for being naive here — is that Republicans who had previously supported comprehensive immigration reform — my opponent in 2008, who had been a champion of it and who attended these meetings — suddenly would walk away. That’s what I did not anticipate.

It was something that the nation witnessed. Republicans like John McCain who had at one time took pride in championing for immigrant rights, suddenly changed his mind. Was it bitterness for losing the election?

Or was it about becoming an accomplice to a party strategy only intent on making Obama a one-term president?