Bush's Amnesty For Illegal Aliens ... Compassionate Conservatism?

Bush and Immigration

For Bush, the Catholic Church's leadership of this pro-immigrant movement represents a particular irony. From the beginning, his compassionate conservative rhetoric has borrowed heavily from Catholic vocabulary about the dignity of every life. Now, with conservatives using dehumanizing terms like "illegals," the Church is challenging Bush to prove that he really believes all the rhetoric he has borrowed.

If the GOP tries to keep itself in power by becoming an anti-immigrant party, it may win short-term victories. After all, nativism helped Wilson get reelected in 1994. But it will start to resemble the Republican Party of the 1930s, drawing on a native-born, heavily rural political base at a time when that base is becoming a smaller and smaller share of the American electorate.

So perhaps a more enlightened Republican friend will come to Bush and say this. "Your presidency isn't hanging by a thread; your presidency is already over. You staked it on the war in Iraq, and you lost. Even if Republicans do hold Congress this fall, they will never again acquiesce to your wishes. Your hopes of passing any kind of agenda are over. So think about your legacy. If historians say anything kind, it may be that you helped the Republican Party--which benefited so shamefully from the civil rights backlash--lay down the burden of race. Politically, you are going to lose either way. Why not do it with dignity?"

Peter Beinart

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20060410&s=trb041006

Conservatism's connotations require such an adjective if they're going to sell their platform.