Pete Wilson’s “pyrrhic victory” is an urban myth, like the lady who dried her poodle in the microwave or the “No Irish Need Apply” signs of the 19th century. Proposition 187 would win again today if it were on the California ballot — the “pyrrhic” nature of the outcome has nothing to do with voter backlash and everything to do with a cowed GOP establishment in California believing the Democrats’ press releases. Heck, if Prop. 187 had been more like the new initiative in Colorado (i.e., didn’t have the bar against illegal-alien students), it would have passed by an even huger majority.