Nasty campaign ads that don’t involve the study of bisexual, transgendered and two-spirited Aleutian Eskimos

It's amazing how the threat of losing power brings out the worst in someone; in the case of the Republican Congressional majority, that's really saying something. As a favor for those who love nasty politics or simply like to laugh, TNR has compiled the seven most egregious immigration ads from around the county (Paul R. Nelson missed the cut). My favorite included this line:

"Well the next thing you know [North Carolina Democrat] Brad [Miller]'s a congressman with all the sneaky aliens eating from his hand. Sugar Daddy Miller's what they call him in DC, giving them the taxes he stole from you and me."

Brilliant. It seems that illegal immigration is the one core issue on which the GOP still thinks it can push the Dems, and don't be confused – "illegal immigration" means "dirty wetbacks stealing our jobs" to the Republican Party. But anti-Latino sentiment wasn't always standard practice, that is, if we choose to recall the halcyon days of the 2000 presidential primary:

When he ran for president in 2000, George W. Bush implicitly promised that the era of Republican race-baiting was over. If compassionate conservatism meant anything, it was intended to exchange carefully calibrated attacks on welfare queens for a new Republican willingness to talk about the urban poor. But the true hallmark of the Bush ethos of tolerance was its political embrace of Latinos. Remember when el presidente blurted out Spanish phrases in nearly every stump appearance?

OK, so it's no news that Republicans are hypocrites. But when conservative candidates stoop to using lines like "These illegal aliens pay no taxes but take our jobs and our government handouts, then spit in our face and burn our flags", why can't more people see through the transparency? Why won't any Democrat ever accuse his race-baiting opponent from "cut-and-running" from his compassionate conservative agenda in a last gasp attempt to shore up rapidly diminishing power? And why do so many Americans – themselves the sons and daughters of immigrants – accept the premise?