Recent efforts by the Democrats to make a political issue out of the arrival of Haitian refugees in Florida is perhaps the most disgusting in a series of desperate maneuvers in this campaign. Democratic accusations of a "double standard"--one set of rules for Cuban emigres and another for Haitians--is a transparent attempt to mobilize the African-American vote next week.

There is, of course, a critical difference between Cuban refugees and Haitian ones--the former are fleeing a tyrannical communist regime that the United States does not even recognize, while the latter are coming from a country ruled by a democratic regime; in fact, one that the Clinton administration helped to keep in power. Simply put, Cubans arrive on our shores as political refugees seeking asylum; the most recent group of Haitians arrived as illegal immigrants, not fundamentally different from those who cross the Mexican border every day.

This morning on Fox and Friends, a representative of the Democratic National Committee clearly admitted the motive behind this. Asked what the fallout from this issue will be, she confidently predicted that Florida governor Jeb Bush would be defeated. This, of course, would reflect badly on the President, "if he can’t even get his own brother reelected." Is it too much to hope that Florida’s African-American community will see through this obvious ploy?