Our political Quote of the Day comes from The Week’s Marc Ambinder (one of my favorite, most level-headed analysts) who explains why immigration reform if probably dead. I’d say “probably” is a hedge word at this point. Ain’t gonna happen. I have consistently noted the role of conservative talk show hosts in setting the no-compromise, just-please-the-base tone of today’s Republican Party. Ambinder notes it as well.
Here’s the final part of his must-read-in-full piece:
Boehner is not willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of immigration reform. He could easily bring a bill to the floor, any bill, and get it passed, and then appoint conferees who will move towards the Senate version of the bill. But he won’t. If he did that, he’d be canned. Hence his “majority of the majority” rule, the Hastert rule, which is both a reflection of, and a contributor to, the anti-governing spirit within the Republican Party.
The louder parts of the GOP base, the talk radio hosts, are resolutely against compromise on immigration. Even Sean Hannity, who flipped-flopped the day after the 2012 election because he (temporarily?) agreed with the smarties in his party that principles had to be exchanged for expediency, is now back where he was. Why? That’s where his listeners and viewers are.It is absolutely true that immigration reform will probably boost Democratic political fortunes in the near-term. And is absolutely true that, by the time Republicans might benefit from changing perceptions of their party, the majority of people in their conference today will be doing something else.
It is also absolutely true that if the media says something MUST be done and even WILL be done, the collective, instinctive response of the conservative base is basically a snap followed by “Oh no you don’t.”
So: How do you reckon that John McCain, or even Paul Ryan, can change any of this?
The answer to that is: D.M.M.L. (Don’t Make Me Laugh)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.