Some Republican senators probably think he has. Anyone who does a deal with reality -- even just smiles in the direction of political reality -- is bound to be regarded with suspicion by the die-hard fantasists who make up the right.
Face it: the right has been shooting up for years now. They're stoned. They're stuck in that filthy loft on the other side of town from rest of us, using bad, bad stuff. They're addicted to anger and resentment. Getting clean and facing reality isn't going to be easy for them.
Imagine how they feel about John McCain, a guy who has the same tracks on his forearms but who has gone over to the other side...
At an event this morning, John McCain effectively boxed in House Republicans on immigration by stating flatly that reform is a complete nonstarter unless it includes a path to citizenship.
Those are tough words for House Republicans, who are currently locked in an internal debate over reform, with some conservatives seemingly still looking for a way out that doesn’t include citizenship. It effectively closes off any escape routes for them. ...
... Meanwhile, House Republican sources are also claiming that they may settle on a plan that makes the path to citizenship even longer than the 13-year one in the Senate compromise.
But McCain made things pretty clear this morning: There are only two paths forward. The first is immigration reform with a path to citizenship. The second is failure. And that second option — in which far right members of the House end up killing reform — is the absolute worst possible outcome for Republican efforts to repair relations with Latinos. ...Greg Sargent, WaPo
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The GOP is just plain worried about its leadership, its future.
The failure of House Republican leaders to pass a healthcare measure this week exposes a GOP weakness going into the high-profile debt-ceiling talks this summer.
A number of high-ranking Republican lawmakers close to the whip operation told The Hill, on the condition of anonymity, that there has been a “disconnect” with leadership lately.
Unless rectified, that disconnect could hamper Republican efforts to go toe-to-toe with President Obama on raising the debt ceiling. ...The Hill
