Bush Comes Up Empty

"'The president said I'm willing to find something that will build confidence, and so I think that is something that may come as a new outcome as a result of this conversation,' said Sen. Mel Martinez, Florida Republican.

"The White House, though open to the idea, was noncommittal.

"'There were some ideas that were raised during the meeting, and the president and members of his administration will consider them,' said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman."

Of course, any major change that makes the deal more palatable to Republicans risks losing Democratic support.

Poll Watch

Bush's political powerlessness comes into clearer focus when you consider that, according to many polls, the underlying principles of the immigration bill are widely supported by the American public. As unpopular and mistrusted as he is, he can neither twist arms effectively nor pierce the wall of sound from the nativist noise machine.

Janet Hook writes in the Los Angeles Times: "A strong majority of Americans -- including nearly two-thirds of Republicans -- favor allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

"That is a striking show of support for a primary element of an immigration overhaul bill that has stalled in the Senate amid conservative opposition. . . .

"The immigration bill, a top priority for the White House, is languishing at a time when Bush's approval rating has hit a new low: The poll found 34% approved of the job the president is doing, the lowest level registered by the Los Angeles Times poll throughout his time in office."

More from the poll results: "Bush's approval numbers remain little changed from those found in a L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll last April, but they indicate an overall trend of decline. The strength of discontent in the country with the president is very high -- the proportion of those who strongly disapprove of his job as President is -- at 44% -- nearly three times greater than the proportion of those who strongly approve. . . .

"Bush has seen the biggest decline in his overall job rating among the core of his own party -- Republicans and conservatives. His approval has dropped thirteen points among those who identify with the GOP, falling from 83% last September to 70% today, while those who disapprove have correspondingly increased from 13% to nearly a quarter today."

(Iraq is Bush's biggest albatross; the Times poll finds that a "68% majority -- including four out of 10 Republicans -- would like to see troops begin coming home within the next year or sooner.")

Going to the Blogs?

Mike Allen and Carrie Budoff write in the Politico: "Facing the prospect of an embarrassing defeat, the White House has developed a plan to save the immigration bill by trying to ratchet up outside pressure on Congress, prodding reluctant corporate allies to be more vocal and confronting conservative critics through blogs and talk radio.