It Ain't Over Until the Fat Senators Vote

The Washington Post is indicating that the Immigration Reform Bill may not be such a done deal after all:

Fewer than 20 senators are publicly committed to supporting the immigration deal that hits the Senate floor today while nearly 40 are already opposed or have serious concerns, underscoring how difficult it will be for President Bush and his allies to craft a coalition that can pass the bill.

A Washington Times survey of Senate offices and public comments after the deal was announced Thursday found an additional 32 senators who said they cannot even take a position yet — a result of the fact that the deal was written in secret by a dozen senators and the Bush administration, wasn’t even finalized until yesterday and still hasn’t reached many Senate offices.

I guarantee you that since this bill was announced on Thursday pressure from both sides of the political aisle has been coming down onto the Senate fast and furious. The conservative base is outraged at what certainly looks like amnesty, the lefties are mad because they think the provisions are too strict, and many other voters are unhappy at the way this thing is being ramrodded throught the Senate without much debate or any hearings.

This weekend Republican Lindsay Graham was booed in his home state by citizens unhappy with the deal, and Senator Saxby Chambliss got equal treatment in Georgia. If these guys want to keep calling Washington their home, they better wake up and listen to their voters. I think a lot Senators who might have supported this bill on Thursday are quickly developing second thoughts.

No bill is better than a bad bill, and the only good immigration reform bill will be one that secures the borders first and worries about all the peripheral issues later.