There’s no way on earth that any kind of major immigration reform will pass between now and November, 2012. Democrats should push the issue anyway, though, because (a) it’s a big political winner and (b) if Republicans take enough of a beating among Latino voters in 2012, they may change their tune and help pass something in the next Congress or the one after.
I understand the rationale for not pushing it earlier. I don’t know if Democrats had 60 Senators ready to vote for it — Ben Nelson and Evan Bayh are cynical enough and dumb enough to have thought it would be a bad idea, for example — in the last Congress and if Obama had tried and failed with a Democratic Congress, it would have looked worse than not trying at all.
Now is a perfect time to try. Republicans will block it and they’ll pay a price at the polls for doing so. The only way to make progress on this issue right now is beat Republicans with it until they say uncle.