Major blow to Bush as immigration bill fails

By Mike McCarthy and Chris Cermak Jun 29, 2007, 8:32 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush suffered a major setback on Thursday when the Senate soundly defeated an immigration reform bill he had declared a top goal for his dwindling time in office.

Bush invested huge political capital in the bill, speaking around the country to promote it and making a rare visit to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers for support.

The bill, which offered a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, ended up 14 votes short of the 60 needed to move forward in the 100-seat Senate. Perhaps even more troubling for Bush, only 12 of the 49 Republicans sided with their leader.

'The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws,' a disappointed Bush said after the vote. 'A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. It didn't work.'

With only 18 months remaining in Bush's term, his job approval at record lows and the campaign to succeed him nearing full steam, the failure of the immigration bill fuelled talk the current White House resident may have reached lame-duck status.

Adding to Bush's woes, two more Republican senators announced this week that they no longer support Bush's policies in Iraq. They said the buildup of US troops ordered months ago was not working and called for a new approach.

Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, said Bush needed to quickly change his policy or risk the erosion of US interests around the world.

'We have overestimated what the military can achieve, we have set goals that are unrealistic, and we have inadequately factored in the broader regional consequences of our actions,' he said.

The violence in Iraq and the mounting US death toll there has been the biggest reason for Bush's drop in the polls from record highs following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The latest Fox News poll gave Bush a job approval rating of 31 per cent.

The opposition to the war in Iraq swept the Democrats in November elections into control of Congress, placing the Bush administration on the defensive over Iraq, investigations of the White House role in the firing of federal prosecutors, and Vice President Dick Cheney's powerful influence in formulating administration policy.

Senator John Cornyn, a Republican who voted against Bush on the immigration bill, refused to attribute his party's defection to a weakened president, saying overwhelming voter opposition to the bill left Republicans with little choice.

'I don't think this is so much a commentary on the president's political clout as it was members of the Senate listening to their constituents,' Cornyn told CNN. 'Our phones are ringing off the hooks.'

Bush has touted immigration reform as a cornerstone of his domestic agenda for years and launched a sustained campaign to convince sceptical senators. A similar bill to overhaul immigration policy failed in Congress last year under Republican leadership.

Had it cleared the Senate Thursday, it would have faced serious resistance in the House, which had yet to take up the most recent measure.

Critics of the bill said it would have granted amnesty to more than 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States while doing little to secure borders or crack down on the hiring of illegals.

'I think the president's approach didn't work,' Republican Senator Jeff Sessions told reporters.

The intensely emotional issue that divided the Republican Party will likely be a major factor in the presidential campaign to replace Bush in January 2009. Already, two Republican candidates have made immigration one of their signature themes.

The bill marked a rare show of unity between Bush and the Democrats, who have attacked the president on everything from Iraq to global warming, but on Thursday said they were grateful for his leadership.

'I appreciate very much the president stepping out on this,' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. 'He didn't have to. He did. And I'm going to talk to him later today and tell him that personally.'

Democratic leaders held out hope the bill could be revived before November 2008 elections. But chances appear slim, making it more likely that immigration will remain a powerful political issue as Americans weigh their choice for the next president.