Are congressional Republicans absolutely determined to forfeit this November’s midterm elections? It sure looks that way. The GOP would hardly be acting any differently if it were secretly run by its enemies.

The election-security provisions of the SAVE Act enjoy overwhelming popular support. According to CBS/YouGov polling, requiring photo ID to vote is literally an 80-20 issue, commanding the support of four out of five voters. Yet the Republican Senate, with a 53-47 majority, is struggling to pass the law. Yes, the filibuster gives Chuck Schumer a powerful weapon to use against the GOP, but there are ways around that – ways the GOP chooses not to take. Democrats are killing the bill without even having to be held accountable for voting against it. 

“Surrender first, win afterward” is the perfect encapsulation of the GOP establishment mindset

“Surrender first, win afterward” is the perfect encapsulation of the GOP establishment mindset

Then there’s ICE funding. That’s already secured, but Democrats want to revoke it in order to neuter immigration law enforcement. To do that, they’re holding the country’s airport security hostage, refusing to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security until ICE is crippled. Will Republicans give in to this extortion?

They evidently want to: reports are flying that Senate Republicans are angling for a deal with Democrats to fund the rest of DHS and treat ICE separately, placing a question mark next to the agency’s appropriations. Republicans are signaling to their voters that if they just concede the main point now, they’ll set things right for immigration enforcement later on. “Surrender first, win afterward” is the perfect encapsulation of the GOP establishment mindset. It’s what voters rejected, time and again, by nominating Trump for president over all the useless grandees of the Grand Old Party, and by making the defiant populist president twice over.

Who would trust Stephen Colbert with Lord of the Rings?

Dinner in Tehran, anyone?

Why every president ignores Congress on war

Immigration is the issue that galvanizes the right’s activist base like no other. If that base is demoralized ahead of November midterms, Republicans won’t just lose, they’ll be slaughtered. The party is having a terrible time with........

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