The necessity of the Senate appropriately dealing with the border issue is only half about the border. It is obviously necessary to close it. People who say we can deal with the border and the 12 million might be right, in the sense that we can. However, we should not do it yet.

Forcing the Senate to pass a bill which deals with border enforcement is about the people forcing the Senate to do something. The House gets a lot of credit for holding strong and forcing Congress to take a conservative approach to the immigration/border issue. The border bill is about people forcing Congress to do something, disciplining the Senate, and most importantly, the Senate taking an opportunity to show that they hear us and to show that they are willing to take a conservative approach.

It may very well be possible for us to deal with every facet of the immigration/border problem in one piece of legislation. Senate Republicans, however, need to show that they hear us. I think for too long, Congressional-types have tried to show everybody how incredibly intelligent they are by passing huge, "comprehensive," all-encompassing pieces of legislation full of wisdom rivaled only by God and all they have done is make asses out of themselves by taking twenty-five years to pass the bill and then once it's passed, watching as it fails.

Baby steps are the way to go on this issue. It is good for Senate and House Republicans and the nation as a whole. Solving one problem at a time, starting with the most important and obvious problems, will eventually solve the whole issue.

Bush is definitely wrong about this. However, make no mistake, as I told you a long time ago, he is wrong on purpose. He is aware that Congress could not agree on comprehensive legislation. He is purposely giving Republican Congressmen an opportunity to "distance themselves" from him by being more conservative than him. This gives Republican candidates a chance to capitalize on the President's low approval, even while riding his coattails on the strength of his anti-terror record.

Beautiful strategy, but only if Republican candidates take the opportunity.