Well, Pod, that poll is interesting all right. I’m not sure it’s quite as good as it sounds. A lot of the folks who are backing the president on his speech still aren’t going to vote Republican. We’ll be in trouble without our base. And the base is correct that the president has not gone far enough on border security or enforcement–and that he’s gone too far on amnesty. But if this poll forces the House to craft a compromise significantly to the right of where the president is now, it could be a good thing (maybe even very good, depending on the details). I’m still willing to believe that, substantively and politically, no bill is better than a bad bill. But a better bill, dragged to the right by the House, still seems like a live option, and maybe a winning one. One thing’s for sure: I’m glad we have a Republican House. Without it, there would be no hope of either sinking a bad bill or crafting a better one. Insofar as there’s already been movement in a better direction, it’s because of the Republican House. Without that Republican House, we be standing by helplessly as a very bad reform bill passed. And I doubt we’d ever be able to take it back. I hope folks remember that when election day rolls around.

About the Author
Stanley Kurtz is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
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