President Obama's political advisers often talk about how population shifts in the country could create new electoral battlegrounds, pointing specifically to Arizona, Georgia and Texas.
There are several signs that aides to the president have Texas on their minds. Jim Messina, the manager of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign, toured three Texas cities last month during his coast-to-coast listening tour. And the president is eying Texas for a fund-raising visit this spring.
What these three states have in common is a growing Hispanic population. The "Hispanics will obviously vote Democratic" strategy continues to strike me as both shallow and shaky. Although Hispanic voters do favour Democrats, it won't do to be complacent about that. And at the moment the connection between Hispanic voters and Democrats has as much to do with their mutual frustration with Republicans as with shared political priorities. It's therefore good to hear that Mr Obama is holding a meeting today to discuss having another go at immigration reform:

"The question is going to be, are we going to be able to find some Republicans who can partner with me and others to get this done once and for all, instead of using it as a political football?" he told Dallas-based WFAA-TV during one of four local television interviews on Monday.
I hope he tries, at least. The current immigration laws are like an old, misshapen quilt with ripped seams and the stuffing falling out in places. The system is inefficient, unpredictable, and occasionally senselessly punitive, and it saps the effort to secure the border against serious crimes (crossing illegally is only a misdemeanor, and being in the United States without papers is a civil violation). An effort to reform it would be difficult and contentious, but the need for reform is not diminished by the challenges that would attend it. And the political moment is reasonable for Mr Obama and the Democrats. A push for immigration reform might damage their prospects in states such as Arizona and Georgia, where the state legislature has just passed a strict enforcement bill that takes some cues from the law passed in Arizona in 2010. The Arizona law, incidentally, has not been fully implemented; major parts of it were blocked by a federal judge in Phoenix last year, and last week an appeals court refused to lift the stay. That points to another problem with current immigration laws: in the absence of federal action, state and local governments are taking matters into their own hands, making the system even more distorted.

As for the campaign, Mr Obama should spare some time to do a little campaigning in states like Texas and Georgia, even though it is unlikely he will carry them next year. Down-ballot Democrats suffer when there is no serious effort at the top of the ticket, and campaign appearances from heavy hitters may have a cheering effect on the members of the minority party. The same applies for the Republicans; their eventual nominee should stop by New York and San Francisco, and not just for fundraising. We all have more fun when everyone takes a swing at the piñata.