MARC COOPER on today’s illegal-immigrant amnesty marches:

There is a definite time and place for this sort of tactic, and it isn’t here or now. Boycotts are powerful and volatile weapons used as a last resort to bust open dams of dogged resistance. You don’t use them when the political tide is even vaguely flowing in your direction. . . .

It’s no accident that those pushing hardest for the May 1 boycott, many of them marginal protest groups such as ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), have never shown much concern for real-world results, preferring to act out their ideological impulses.

That’s why the larger institutional players in the pro-immigrant movement prefer an after-school (and after-work) rally over an intentionally punitive boycott and walkout. They argue that such an escalation could alienate lawmakers and the public just when political sentiment is shifting more toward immigrants. The positive message of demanding inclusion in the United States would be replaced by a more negative and divisive signal.

Read the whole thing. Also read this post on Publius, which offers a cautionary note. Meanwhile, there’s this report from L.A.:

With large crowds of illegal immigrants gathering at two locations in Los Angeles, extensive backroom planning to avoid offending U.S. citizens appeared to have failed: crowds are carrying about 60% Mexican flags, just 40% U.S. or other flags. KABC TalkRadio reported “there’s not a sign out there saying they want a ‘guest worker’ program — they all say they want full amnesty.”

I predict that neither party will be able to maintain a successful straddle on this issue for long. Here’s some evidence:

California’s two best-known Latino politicians had difficult mornings on Southern California news broadcasts. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa struggled to explain to KFWB News 980 why he is attending a late-afternoon pro-illegal immigration protest, and California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez offered KNX 1070 NewsRadio a tortured definition of amnesty while insisting he does not support amnesty.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: More here from the Pajamas Media crew covering the marches in L.A.:

We were immediately engulfed by a gigantic crowd. It is impossible to say how many from our perspectives, but these are the things we can report – they were joyful, they were non-violent (at least as far as we could see) and they were well-organized. A lot of the organization from the downtown demonstration came, alas, from ANSWER and their extremist ilk, but that didn’t stop us from being moved by the demonstrators and their earnest desire to be Americans and to find honest work here. Nevertheless, there were some among them who wanted, unfortunately, the whole enchilada, the return of California to Mexico. But when you interview these people (you will see the results later), you find some are more confused than anything else. For the most part, they just want to work and raise families. They are being exploited by leaders singing a very old and tired song.

More later. I just spoke with Roger Simon on the phone and he says the size of the crowd is unbelievable.

MORE: Here’s a report from San Diego.