Redistricted into 20% Latino district, GOP Rep. Mike Coffman decides he supports immigration reform

Scaring the crap out of Republicans since November 7, 2012. Gee, which do you think is more sincere? Colorado Republican Mike Coffman's years of anti-immigrant positions, or the support for immigration reform he's suddenly embracing after redistricting changed his House district from a conservative one with relatively few Latinos to an Obama-voting, 20 percent Latino one?

Position A:

It was only two years ago that Coffman, a conservative third-term lawmaker from the Denver suburbs, said the Dream Act would be a "nightmare" and proposed a bill that would ensure ballots were printed in English only. He even signed an amicus brief in support of Arizona's controversial immigration bill.

Position B:

"My district dramatically changed," the congressman told POLITICO. "In the district I had until last month, there wasn't a significant Hispanic population, and with the population I had, immigration wasn't a significant issue. In the district I have now, there is a significant Hispanic population. And meeting with those people really put a face on it."

Hmmm .... meeting his new Latino constituents put a face on the importance of immigration reform, or put a face on how he was going to lose if he didn't change? If you're having trouble deciding which version of Coffman was sincere, or if he really has had that extreme of a change of heart, consider what he had to say about President Obama back in May:

"I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don't know that. But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American. He's just not an American."

The good thing is, a vote for immigration reform is a vote for immigration reform, even if it's completely insincere. But Coffman's constituents should recognize his about-face for what it is.