We'll see on Miers and the rest. I keep trying to look at this from a DEM perspective rather than a GOP perspective, and if I'm a Dem, and the hard-liners kill what I think is a sure anti-Roe vote, then I'm giddy as hell. I have to think that the secret to defeating ANY conservative nominee is not to mobilize all the Dems (which is as simple as ringing the pork-dinner-bell) but to shatter the GOP.
Consider this: in the past, their strat has always been to try to peel off the RINOs. Now, they have stumbled onto an incredibly successful strat of convincing Republicans that a particular person isn't "conservative" enough. It truly is brilliant, and I don't think it was deliberate or conceived by Carville. But it appears to be working.
As for the illegals, I do think that this is building to tsunami-level proportions. Someone will have to ride this wave, and it may completely dwarf supreme court nominations before it is over.