So let’s see. Immigration is the most important issue in the history of the planet. Republican voters, we are told, are viscerally and passionately opposed to illegal immigration and they’re not too crazy about legal immigration either. Immigration. Immigration. Immigration.

It is striking, therefore, that the two candidates in the Republican field most associated with a soft stance on immigration — Mike Huckabee and John McCain — have won the first two primaries. At some point, as I keep saying, immigration foes are going to have to demonstrate that taking a hard line on immigration is key factor in winning at the ballot box if they are not going to prove merely that they have mistaken their own rage for the mood of the general public. Politicians aren’t going to continue with this crusade if it doesn’t generate votes.