Dave: I wouldn’t hit McCain for the judicial deal — it did lead to important confirmations. At least something got done, in other words, no mean achievement with this last Senate. Nor would I hit McCain on immigration and amnesty, which for the right in their opposition is a huge loser and which for McCain is a position consistent with this views from the Reagan years — the McCain all of us loved. If conservatives want to cut their noses off to spite their faces on illegal immigration, they’ll end up taking the Tancredo route into crankiness and irrelevance. Twelve million plus are not going to be deported. Unless you want economic collapse and huge instability, you’ll seek out a practical solution. That’s what politicians are supposed to do. Instead of confronting the welfare state, the right prefers to demand the building of walls and huge population transfers. That’s not how to broaden your appeal.