Call me skeptical, but....

I am beginning to wonder about the President's committment to conservative principles. OK, so I'm not JUST NOW beginning to wonder, but this week is shaping up to be yet another in a long line of taking conservatives like myself for granted. Conservatives have been up in arms for months about the issue of illegal immigration. Conservatives want an ENFORCEMENT-FIRST policy, while the President and other moderates are shooting for a "comprehensive" solution which will include a path to citizenship amnesty. This leaves a bad taste in our mouths, because it's what Reagan passed in '86 and the enforcement issue in THAT law has been all but forgotten. So now we want enforcement FIRST, and THEN we'll talk about MAYBE giving them some kind of "path to citizenship" (which, ideally, would start with every damned one of them being deported first). So anyway, because President Bush has had a number of missteps lately (Harriet Miers, the Dubai Ports debacle and now the illegal immigrant issue), conservatives are a bit gun-shy. And when the President's approval ratings in the toilet (and Congress' numbers even lower than that), Republicans in Congress and the President are looking to CHANGE THE SUBJECT! Hey look at that! A shiny object! So now, in the interests of stirring up the base, the Senate is pulling out the Gay Marriage Amendment again. Yes, it's something that conservatives want, but is there currently any chance in Hell of it passing? Don't be silly! Of course not! This is just a smokescreen so that they can go back to their constituents and say "Hey, we TRIED!". They KNOW the GMA won't pass, so they run it up the flagpole again, thinking this will be "red meat" for the base. DON'T FALL FOR IT ! Surveys show that overwhelming numbers of Americans support an enforcement-first policy and the Republicans are just tucking tail on this issue for fear of alienating Hispanics. Thing is, alot of Hispanics you talk to are IN FAVOR of clamping down on the illegals. Call me skeptical, but this latest push for the GMA isn't going to do much for the base or the Republicans' chances in November. Not when it's so transparently political.