The problem with Republicans is that we are fractured and not very savvy politically.
When President GW Bush proposed an immigration reform bill, he was roundly criticized and browbeaten by many conservatives. The Democrats simply watched the show.
Instead of learning the value of compromise, getting a little of what you want at a time, many conservatives wanted everything or nothing. They refused to support the President's proposal as a good starting point; then they could have lobbied Congress to move the bill closer to a conservative ideal.
Instead we let the momentum pass. Americans don't feel so strongly today about curbing immigration [legal and illegal] as they did a couple of years ago. The memory of 9/11 is fading, we are moving on with our lives.
Now the immigration reform is being written by McCain and Kennedy. Nothing good can come out of this.
And if the Democrats get hold of the House or the Senate in November, they will probably make it a hate crime to refer to undocumented workers as illegal aliens.
"They refused to support the President's proposal as a good starting point; then they could have lobbied Congress to move the bill closer to a conservative ideal"
It wasn't a good starting point. Lobbying would have done no good. Your argument is or the "carrot and no stick" variety.
Bush has an option. He can listen to the people. Decentering him as a person with options doesn't fly.