The result of pushing them into minority status, would not be as you say IMO. It will force them to fight the liberals for more of their constituency. Again, only my opinion. They are in the position that Rush(lovehimorhatehim) Limbaugh has painted so clearly. They want to be loved by the media, and by extension the public. Instead of being dedicated to an ideal, they are dedicated to being part of the "in" crowd. I would like to see the figures showing the numbers of Republicans at dinner parties in '94 and in the present. If my theory is correct, the R's are hobnobbing with the best of them.
This description describes Rush as well. Sure, Rush has some "principles" he loudly trumpets, but they happen to coincide with the people who he hobnobs with and who have helped him succeed over the years and who have carefully guided his career and coached him. I have listened to Rush off and on since he started out as a local host in Sacramento. Rush has slowly but surely changed his positions on many issues to put himself in lockstep with the neo-cons and the open borders, NWO types within the party.
True, Rush won't publicly support amnesty (at least I don't think so - he knows what most people think about it), but it is highly unlikely he will take Bush to task in any meaningful way over the issue. Rush might not even mention today's vote, if he thinks he can get away with it.
I stopped taking Rush seriously when he flipped on the MLK Day issue; I was confirmed in my suspicions after his Potemkin-like guided tour of Israel.
Judging from his history, his tone, his body language, and my own personal intuition (again, IMHO), Rush is every bit as driven by status anxiety and desire to please the media (at least, the "conservative" media) as are the GOP pols. Rush is a very "other directed" kind of fellow. Contra his claims otherwise, Rush is neither original nor very imaginative. He gets fed his information and talking points by his various collaborators and handlers. Rush's talents are those of a salesman - glibness, enthusiasm, optimism, articulateness, ability to convince. But it's not the salesman that should convince one to buy; it's the product. Caveat emptor.
If these two are indicative, I may have to take back what I said about Rush. I don't trust Rush, but if he does discuss this vote on his show, and is negative about it and does not let Bush off the hook for it, I will have to conclude that one of the following is true: 1) Rush is a closet Open Borderer but wants to head off dissent by appearing to be opposed to illegal immigration; 2) Rush is not an Open Borderer but kept quiet until now hoping for the best from Bush; 3) Rush was an Open Borderer but has finally seen the light.
Conversely, if Rush does refuse to discuss this amnesty, or if he excuses Bush, or otherwise ignores or disregards the implications of this vote, then we will be able to draw a definitive conclusion about where Rush's loyalties lie.