My research director (who, admittedly, isn’t a conservative) said back in 2004 it would have been better for immigration policy if Kerry had won, because then congressional Republicans wouldn’t have had to restrain themselves in denouncing the cockamamie immigration schemes coming from the White House. That may sound improbable today, given the outcry over the Senate amnesty bill, but it’s still true. Case in point: House Minority Leader Boehner told a private meeting yesterday that the bill was a “piece of s**t” but that he’d promised the president not to go public with that assessment. I suspect Boehner’s not all that broken up that his comment was leaked, but the fact remains that if a President Kerry (or a President Rodham) backed the same proposal, Republicans would be even more united and more vocal in opposition — well, except for McCain.