A Failure of Leadership in a Flawed Political Culture

Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said the immigration debate pits "practical principle against practical reality." He noted that opponents passionately believe they are standing on principle, while proponents are "holding their nose" but argue that the problem must be addressed. "Neither side is willing to give," he said.

Reid warned, hours before the bill collapsed, that he would not seek to revive the issue. Later, he pledged to work hard to resurrect a deal. Perhaps, once people step back from what happened, they will try again. Perhaps they will succeed on their third try.

No one ever believed that passing comprehensive changes in immigration law would be easy. As McCain said in Tuesday's Republican debate in New Hampshire, "It's our job to do the hard things, not the easy things." But for a long time, Washington politicians have flinched at the hard things, preferring to engage in political combat aimed at gaining partisan advantage first.

There is little time for progress on difficult issues before Bush's lame-duck status reduces his power even more and before the 2008 presidential and congressional campaigns turn the country into a partisan battlefield. Immigration provides one clear test for the system before that reality locks in. So far the system is losing.

If there is no attempt to revive the immigration bill, the issue will become fodder throughout the long campaign ahead. Already it is shaping the Republican presidential debate, with McCain on one side and his leading opponents on the other.

Even as the bill was heading to defeat, presidential rival Rudolph W. Giuliani criticized McCain for saying the bill had not been everything he would have wanted. "Then he should have written the one he wanted and pushed that," Giuliani said on Sean Hannity's radio show.

Public opinion suggests an electorate open to, but by no means wildly enthusiastic about, comprehensive change that provides the 12 million illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, but only if there is an effective border security plan in place.

Republicans are clearly divided, but perhaps not as the heated rhetoric of the campaign trail suggests. The most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that, on the question of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, the public narrowly approves: 52 percent to 44 percent. Democrats back such a plan 57 percent to 38 percent and independents 51 to 45 percent. Republicans are opposed, 53 to 43 percent -- significant but not overwhelming.

Those numbers underscore how difficult the issue is and why leadership is critical in coming to a solution. A divided public may take sides in apportioning blame for what happened in the Senate, but it is possible they could come to a joint conclusion about their leaders in Washington, one that will reverberate as the calendar turns to 2008.

Staff writer Michael D. Shear contributed to this report.