The Monica Mess

"At the end of the day here, what we're talking about is the marginalization, if not the destruction, of the Republican Party. Look, it's time to be blunt here. I said I'm going to stop carrying the water last November, and I'm not carrying the water. The current crop of Republican leaders has not only lost the Congress, the current crop of Republican leaders is on the way to destroying the base by signing on to this kind of legislation. . .

"As soon as the details of the painstakingly negotiated bipartisan proposal began to trickle out last week, talk radio and the right half of the blogosphere went ballistic, saying the bill meant de facto amnesty for illegal aliens. Furious members of the Republican rank and file began talking about last straws and using 'impeachment' and 'Bush' in the same sentence.

"For the past three decades, Republicans have carefully sidestepped the kinds of issues that could divide a party's followers from its Beltway elites -- and expertly deployed the same wedge issues against the Democrats. Now the party's 2008 front-runners are in trouble, one of Karl Rove's long-term strategic goals is in doubt, and the foot soldiers are close to open revolt, all thanks to one uniquely radioactive wedge issue."

Some Democrats are conflicted as well, including the governor of New Mexico:

"Mr. Richardson initially said he would support the immigration compromise announced earlier this week," the NYT reports. "But on Wednesday, he said that after reading it in detail, he had decided to oppose it, saying the measure placed too great a burden on immigrants -- tearing apart families that wanted to settle in the United States, creating a permanent tier of second-class immigrant workers and financing a border fence that Mr. Richardson had long opposed."

Or maybe he just came under too much pressure.

Does Hillary have a national security image problem? Check out this Baltimore Sun post:

"Sen. Barack Obama drew the most positive responses, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came in for rough treatment, during the first in a national series of focus-group discussions sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center.

"When the suburban Baltimore voters were asked who would be the safest choice to lead the country in these uncertain times, nearly all, including Democrats and independents, picked Republicans: former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sen. John McCain or former Gov. Mitt Romney.

"Only two chose Democrats: Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. None mentioned Clinton.

"Veteran Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who led the two-hour session, said it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of homeland security in the 2008 election, calling it 'a hidden underlying issue.' "

Al Gore (who's not running for anything except best-selling author) chatted up some bloggers, and James Boyce has a highly positive report: