Republicans Obsessed With Immigration, Yet Still Support Bush

I must admit, I’m increasingly puzzled by the GOP and their candidate’s bizarre fixation on keeping the brown people out.

More than any other question, Republican presidential candidates are asking voters to consider a single issue in the weeks before primary voting begins: Who detests illegal immigration the most?

…

"We’ve known for a while that it was a significant issue, but for it to overshadow Iraq, the economy and healthcare is pretty stunning," said Al Cardenas, a Cuba-born former Florida Republican Party chairman who is advising Romney on immigration issues.

I mean, you’ve got Huck boasting of endorsements from extremist nutjobs, you’ve got Willard running attacks ads on Huck because he’s not enough of an extremist nutjob, and you’ve got Giuliani attacking Willard for having the brown people cut his lawn.

I know that there’s always been an ugly nativist/racist streak in the GOP. But what I find baffling is a) this blew up in their faces in ‘06; b) it pits the Malkinites against their corporate checkbooks; c) Hispanics are abandoning them in droves because of it; and, most puzzling of all — d) a whopping 67% of Republicans still support Bush.

How do you make sense of this?

1. I support George Bush because of his brave leadership on the war on terror.
2. Border security is a key aspect of the war on terror.
3. George Bush has refused to secure the border.
4. I support George Bush because of his brave leadership on the war on terror.

Being a Republican means never having to make sense.

Related posts:

1. Peggy Noonan: Obama’s Health Care Proposals Must Be Terrible, Because No Republicans Support Them
2. Minuteman Killer Co-Hosted Anti-Immigration Event in 2007 Featuring Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson
3. GRITtv Live: Is Immigration Reform Dead?
4. The Republican Brand in Ruins: 75% of Americans Dislike Republicans; Over 70% Think Palin’s Not Qualified to be President
5. Bobby Jindal: Democrats Lack Public Support for Health Care Reform, Should Listen to Republicans