While some like my blogging pal AJ Strata are eulogizing the demise of the GOP after the immigration bill went down (for now) in flames, let’s not forget it wasn’t the uber right or left that killed it, it was America.

I been perusing polling data conducted over the last two weeks from several sources and it’s apparent that once the American people actually got a taste of what the Kennedy 1965 rehash contained they simply said “No”.

You have to pay attention when according to Rasmussen Reports:

“72% of Americans believe it‚Äôs Very Important to reduce illegal immigration and enforce the borders. Just 29% said it was Very Important to legalize the status of those illegally living in the country today.”

Like it or not that is a point of agreement in every poll I read. In every case, it’s “secure first, deal with the present illegal population” second. Because the bill contained more for the later than it did for the former it flopped.

But what of the GOP? Is it in a shambles?

Not at all. Fact is that I’m old enough to remember the last interparty fighting back in 1964 with Goldwater and 1976 with Ronald Reagan losing to Jerry Ford at the GOP convention.

In both cases there were so-called rifts in the party and thousands threatened to leave and join the independents and democrats. Yet like the threat of moonbats to leave the country after Bush won the election in 2004 it didn’t materialize.

In fact in both cases the GOP was stronger afterwards than before. In both cases we got some pretty strong candidates who won the presidency in Nixon and Reagan.

AJ rightly makes the case that that the current system is FUBAR, but the fact is that the fix – when you actually read the thing – was worse than the wound.

It’s time now to put the thing aside go back to the drawing board. Not that everything needs to be scrapped, but the present bill is DOA and the sooner we accept that the quicker we move on.