You are a pretty astute observer of politics and history, LS, so I do not take your views lightly. However, I am not so sure that Bush's clout is over. I think it depends on how he uses it. I think what may be needed is a three-front attack. As you point out, immigration is key, and it appears that they are taking that bull by at least one and a half horns. If I were the loyalist that Ms. Miers seems to be, I would withdraw. It's been done before to no great harm, and allow the President to appoint someone who would get our blood back up for the fight. There are enough to chose from. What the third front might be, I don't know. We're doing just fine with the war, but the MSM is more successful than I thought it could be in making that a non-story. Is the White House PR team as lame as they appear to be? Big government? That doesn't seem to be Bush's thing. I'd like to see him deep-six that phony tax reform commission, put someone like Ron Paul in charge and get something done. I think that's a bigger fight than anything we will have seen in our lifetimes. I would love to have it. My, I do go on and on :)
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.