THERE'S STILL ONE WEEK LEFT TO SAVE THE PARTY FROM ITS RIGHT:

Bush Tells His Party To Be 'Open-Minded': President Pushes Immigration Reform (Perry Bacon Jr., 1/12/09, Washington Post)

"It's very important for our party not to narrow its focus, not to become so inward-looking that we drive people away from a philosophy that is compassionate and decent," the president said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that was aired yesterday. "We shouldn't have litmus tests as to whether or not you can be a Republican. And we should be open-minded about big issues like immigration reform, because if we're viewed as anti-somebody -- in other words, if the party is viewed as anti-immigrant -- then another fellow may say, 'Well, if they're against the immigrant, they may be against me.' "

Bush, when asked about how the GOP could avoid the kind of losses it suffered in the 2008 election -- it lost the presidency and several seats in the House and Senate -- said, "I think that we shouldn't change our philosophy." But he added: "We may want to change our message. . . . We need a new group of leaders." [...]

Some of the Bush administration's efforts, such as expanding the federal government's role in education through the No Child Left Behind Act and proposing an easier path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, have come under fire from some Republicans. But, in the interview, Bush used the phrase that marked his 2000 campaign, saying, "We've got to be compassionate conservatives."

Being a charitable man, the President assumes the Right is as interested in winning elections and wielding power as it is in hating immigrants, a proposition for which there's not much evidence.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 12, 2009 8:36 AM