I have no doubt that yes, this was a trap. It became very obviously so after Reid “pulled it off the table” until Bush could rally up some support. And Bush stumbled right into it despite every warning we tried to send him and the White House. There were a few of us who suspected that Dems would vote against it after persuading Bush to twist some arms... Sadly he was unwilling, or was unable, to resist the temptation.
Only 26% of the American people supported this bill. Who was trapping whom?
NOPE.
You still have it wrong... What Reid was *really* trying to do was to get it passed BUT TO HAVE REPUBLICAN FINGERPRINTS ON IT so the unpopularity of the bill wouldnt fall on Democrat shoulders.
yes, BUSH fell into that trap, dutifully trying harder to get this passed than anything else he’s done lately.
BUT THE GOP BASE DID NOT. And that made the difference. Now the spin is that the public was misinformed, but I think not at all; we knew this bill would turn 12 million illegal immigrants into legal residents of this country and would do so whether or not any of the problems with out-of-control immigration were solved.
Everyone inside the beltway was presuming the base would line up behind the leaders. When they didn’t, the Senators looked to their own re-election. Curiously, the bill did very poorly among senators due for re-election in 2008.
When the Democrats saw the bill not making progress and getting unpopular, some of them bailed too.
Rats & sinking ships, so to speak.
The winners? THE CONSERVATIVE BASE. WE WON.
The inside the beltway crowd will concoct whatever excuse they want for this not to be the case, but this was a monumental and important victory for conservatives. We stopped a bill that could destroy the country as we have known it.