You’re absolutely right in comparing recent remarks by the President on immigration to those he made regarding Harriet Myers. Then he said that conservative opponents of her nomination simply didn’t want a woman on the court. Reagan would never had said any such thing, nor would Ford or Bush the elder. But we - these opponents - essentially gave the Court Alito, and this was and remains a signal achievement.
The President is now feeding EVERY left stereotype of him: shallow, incapable of presenting reasoned arguments, bull-headed in the worst way, etc. This is a real shame, and you’d think Tony Snow would bang a bit on his tin ear and make him back up.
The President is going to end up with less than 25% popular support because of this. He is not simply challenging his base; he is rubbing their nose in it. And no base is ever going to tolerate it, and this includes me.
“The base” fled in 2005.