The problem, as Eric Cantor’s defeat demonstrates, is that the incentives pushing Republicans to take positions against immigration reform (or, even worse, to flip-flop on the issue) in order to win primaries probably also sows the seeds for future national general election losses. (No, I don’t think Hispanics are solely focused on immigration reform, but I do think tackling this problem is a sine qua non.)…

This seems to have become a self-fulfilling prophesy of the GOP’s own choosing; Democrats now “own” the immigration reform “brand,” which has all sorts of long-term consequences and implications, including the fact that conservatives now reflexively oppose even moderate reforms like the DREAM Act. And frankly, I suspect, Democrats are perfectly happy with that.