Via Fox News Opinion Poll:

“Declining support from key constituencies has clearly contributed to the diminishing rating. Today 61 percent of Republicans say they approve ‚Äî the lowest rating ever among this group. Approval among conservatives is now at 46 percent and 42 percent among Born-Again Christians.

“Some Republican legislators have recently made statements disagreeing with actions by the administration. These statements are mirroring attitudes of many Republican voters across the nation,” said Opinion Dynamics Vice President Lawrence Shiman.”

The lack of Republican support is significant and a telling sign of how much the base is beginning to show their displeasure with the President. In fact this result represents a 6 point drop – given the margin of error – since the last poll just a few months ago. That’s a phenominal drop and cannot be attributed to anything except his push – against the tide – on the immigration bill.

Clearly – regardless of polls – the base is displeased with the administration and not only on immigration, as this isn’t the first degree of separation that has occured over the last two years.

People can blame uber right and left influences all they want but the fact remains that this administration hasn’t done itself any favors to keep the base intact. Whether it’s failing to defend it’s own (Scooter Libby), or even itself (sometimes feel like we blog defenders should have gotten a check), it really has no one to blame but itself.

Unfortunately Bush is at the lame duck/legacy stage of his term and it’s all downhill from here as far as polls go. After the (A) bill fiasco his support will be limited, although yours truly still believe that he is a good man and good leader and exactly what we need in this war on terror, and I hope that others will too. This is no time to give up the fight.

Yet there was no need to push this bill against the overwhelming public outcry in the way that it was, behind closed doors – in secret. The American public is extremely sensitive to government secrecy and believe almost to a person that policians generally could care less about what they really want.

The fact that this bill was written in secret, behind closed doors, reminded some of us of the dangers of those who believe themselves to be “gods” in the midsts of puny mortals. The reason the bill was devised in secret was because it was flawed and it’s authors knew it was flawed, but told themselves “It’s the best shot we have”. We’re only learning now just how much pork and cash promises were made to Senators to gain their votes. In the coming days we’ll learn even more about that.

Today the gods were silenced and the mortals won. Yes, we still have an immigration problem, but most of that problem came from flawed policies of the past, written by the same person who attempted to “try, try again”.

You can’t make applesause out of a cow paddy. I did what many who blogged or wrote articles on it didn’t do, I read it – both versions, and found it to be 700 plus pages of big government confusion. It simply wasn’t going to work.

All of this would have came to light if the bill would have come through normal channels of scrutiny and committee. There was no reason for it not too, EXCEPT to hide it’s flaws.

As the weeks go by from now you will see more and more media reporting on the particulars that will most likely make you wipe your brow and thank God this disaster of a bill was averted.

What is even more disconcerting is what many of us became during the discussion. Some of us – by way of name calling and labeling – simply a mirror of what we despised.

I’m glad I didn’t participate.

I said from the beginning that we need immigration reform. I’m intensely interested in this subject because not only do I live among immigrants, I am married to one. But this bill wasn’t the fix and it’s good it’s dead and gone.