Even "Hard Core Republicans" are Jumping Ship

Disaffection over spending and immigration have caused conservatives to take flight from President Bush and the Republican Congress at a rapid pace in recent weeks, sending Bush's approval ratings to record lows and presenting a new threat to the GOP's 12-year reign on Capitol Hill, according to White House officials, lawmakers and new polling data.

Among other things, Republicans are "fed up with what they see as out-of-control spending by Washington and an abandonment of core conservative principles more generally."  Others are "turning on Bush and Congress over the their failure to tighten immigration laws, restrict gay marriage and to put an end to the Iraq war and the rash of political scandals."

Immigration in particular is turning out to be a huge "wedge issue," except this time it's a wedge for Republicans themselves.  According to the Post, "less than 25 percent of respondents who described themselves as conservative or very conservative approved of Bush's handling of the immigration debate."

The question in my mind is this:  are we witnessing the collapse of Conservatism, after a 26-year ascendancy, or is this just a temporary setback due to an utterly incompetent Bush Administration, a corrupt Republican Congress, the  ruinous war in Iraq, the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, out-of-control budget deficits, soaring gas prices and health care costs, and a complete failure to achieve immigration reform?  On second thought, I have no idea how on earth Republicans are going to dig themselves out of this mess.  Anyway, if voters boot them out of office this November, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.

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