Rank Abandonment
05/28 02:00 PM
From the Sunday Washington Post:
Republican House members facing the toughest races this fall are overwhelmingly opposed to any deal that provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship — an election-year dynamic that significantly dims the prospects that President Bush will win the immigration compromise he is seeking, according to Republican lawmakers and leadership aides.
The opposition spreads across the geographical and ideological boundaries that often divide House Republicans, according to interviews with about half of the 40 or so lawmakers whom political handicappers consider most vulnerable to defeat this November. At-risk Republicans — from moderates such as Christopher Shays in suburban Connecticut and Steve Chabot in Cincinnati to conservative J.D. Hayworth in Arizona — said they are adamant that Congress not take any action that might be perceived as rewarding illegal behavior. ...
... House Republicans appear inalterably opposed to any bill that paves the way for citizenship. They plan to name representatives to the House-Senate conference committee who share this view. They will fight for the security-only approach and are prepared to walk away from the conference if they don't get their way, according to GOP leadership aides. ...
... Rep. John N. Hostettler (R-Ind.), a top Democratic target who represents a district so competitive it is known as the "bloody 8th," warned that if House Republicans do not oppose guest workers, temporary workers and anything "that looks like amnesty," they could very well lose the House.
"There are lot of people on Capitol Hill that have no clue what November is going to bring them on immigration," he said. "It could be something like a tidal wave that could benefit the Democrats simply because Republicans don't do the right thing. To survive through November, the folks up here [on Capitol Hill] are really going to have to understand the passion behind this."
More here.
And here’s Bill Kristol’s posting, in part, on the Weekly Standard’s website:
… They can talk themselves into a frenzy about illegal immigration, of course. But on this issue, the Senate managed—contrary to the conventional wisdom of late April—easily to pass a sensible and comprehensive immigration reform bill. And House Republicans now show some signs of coming to realize that talk radio is not always the best source of policy guidance. Enough of them may come to realize that passing legislation they regard as flawed would be better than going home to the voters having achieved nothing. So Bush could have an immigration reform signing ceremony to look forward to in the fall.
More here .
Certain Republican elites think they have the pulse of the conservative movement, but they don’t. In fact, many of them have never been active in the conservative movement. They often throw around Ronald Reagan’s name, having never campaigned for him in either 1976 or 1980, as if they share both his ideology and courage. They don’t realize that they’ve become part of the Republican establishment that Reagan fought most of his political life. And they look down on talk radio (except when they’re trying to hawk their books) because they look down on the grassroots. Talk radio is far more engaged with and responsive to the conservative base than those holed up in office buildings writing for others who are holed up in office buildings. And so the intensity of opposition from conservatives and many, many other Americans to the cynical ethnic pandering and dangerous open-borders viewpoint by the administration and the Senate is condescendingly dismissed as coming from a bunch of “yahoos.” (Here .) They arrogantly attack the very people whose views they claim to represent.
The elites and McCain Republicans seem to lack a well-developed understanding of conservatism. Conservatism is about more than a hawkish foreign policy. And for many reasons discussed here and elsewhere, it’s the open-borders crowd urging the country to adopt a massive expansion of our government (including entitlement programs and taxes) and transformation of our society (an unprecedented invitation to tens of millions of aliens to settle here without the ability to assimilate them into our culture), which neither conservatives nor the public in general want.
The Republican party faces an electoral disaster in November if the president and Senate prevail in this battle. And the ranks of the House Republicans will be the first to take the hit.
05/28 02:00 PM
From the Sunday Washington Post:
Republican House members facing the toughest races this fall are overwhelmingly opposed to any deal that provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship — an election-year dynamic that significantly dims the prospects that President Bush will win the immigration compromise he is seeking, according to Republican lawmakers and leadership aides.
The opposition spreads across the geographical and ideological boundaries that often divide House Republicans, according to interviews with about half of the 40 or so lawmakers whom political handicappers consider most vulnerable to defeat this November. At-risk Republicans — from moderates such as Christopher Shays in suburban Connecticut and Steve Chabot in Cincinnati to conservative J.D. Hayworth in Arizona — said they are adamant that Congress not take any action that might be perceived as rewarding illegal behavior. ...
... House Republicans appear inalterably opposed to any bill that paves the way for citizenship. They plan to name representatives to the House-Senate conference committee who share this view. They will fight for the security-only approach and are prepared to walk away from the conference if they don't get their way, according to GOP leadership aides. ...
... Rep. John N. Hostettler (R-Ind.), a top Democratic target who represents a district so competitive it is known as the "bloody 8th," warned that if House Republicans do not oppose guest workers, temporary workers and anything "that looks like amnesty," they could very well lose the House.
"There are lot of people on Capitol Hill that have no clue what November is going to bring them on immigration," he said. "It could be something like a tidal wave that could benefit the Democrats simply because Republicans don't do the right thing. To survive through November, the folks up here [on Capitol Hill] are really going to have to understand the passion behind this."
More here.
And here’s Bill Kristol’s posting, in part, on the Weekly Standard’s website:
… They can talk themselves into a frenzy about illegal immigration, of course. But on this issue, the Senate managed—contrary to the conventional wisdom of late April—easily to pass a sensible and comprehensive immigration reform bill. And House Republicans now show some signs of coming to realize that talk radio is not always the best source of policy guidance. Enough of them may come to realize that passing legislation they regard as flawed would be better than going home to the voters having achieved nothing. So Bush could have an immigration reform signing ceremony to look forward to in the fall.
More here .
Certain Republican elites think they have the pulse of the conservative movement, but they don’t. In fact, many of them have never been active in the conservative movement. They often throw around Ronald Reagan’s name, having never campaigned for him in either 1976 or 1980, as if they share both his ideology and courage. They don’t realize that they’ve become part of the Republican establishment that Reagan fought most of his political life. And they look down on talk radio (except when they’re trying to hawk their books) because they look down on the grassroots. Talk radio is far more engaged with and responsive to the conservative base than those holed up in office buildings writing for others who are holed up in office buildings. And so the intensity of opposition from conservatives and many, many other Americans to the cynical ethnic pandering and dangerous open-borders viewpoint by the administration and the Senate is condescendingly dismissed as coming from a bunch of “yahoos.” (Here .) They arrogantly attack the very people whose views they claim to represent.
The elites and McCain Republicans seem to lack a well-developed understanding of conservatism. Conservatism is about more than a hawkish foreign policy. And for many reasons discussed here and elsewhere, it’s the open-borders crowd urging the country to adopt a massive expansion of our government (including entitlement programs and taxes) and transformation of our society (an unprecedented invitation to tens of millions of aliens to settle here without the ability to assimilate them into our culture), which neither conservatives nor the public in general want.
The Republican party faces an electoral disaster in November if the president and Senate prevail in this battle. And the ranks of the House Republicans will be the first to take the hit.
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