How does the Arizona v Obama cases affect the presidential election?

Answer 1

If you are referring to the current Immigration case before the Supreme Court (the debate over Arizona's Bill 1070), it is difficult to predict the effect. The question before the court is whether a state has the right to usurp federal authority and set policies that are tougher than that of the Federal Government. Historically, states' rights did not mean a state could over-ride what the Federal Government had decided (or in this case, failed to decide). Whichever way the Supreme Court rules, the issue of U.S. immigration law will be far from settled, and it will remain contentious until congress acts.

It should be noted that the previous president (Bush) tried and failed at getting immigration reform passed by congress, and it is unclear whether this president and this congress will do much better. Meanwhile, President Obama's Justice Department has overseen the deportation of large numbers of undocumented immigrants, but that too is controversial; and the Dream Act (which would provide some relief for the children of illegal immigrants, many of whom had no idea they were brought here illegally), got stalled in congress and did not pass. Given the complexity of the problem, it is doubtful that whichever way the court rules will tilt the election one way or the other. It will just be one more hot-button issue that both sides will try to own.