Subject: Re: Trump: I Would Encourage Russia...
The electorate knows who the open borders people are and they further know that the media tried to ignore the crisis on the border for 3 years. The late breaking attempts to idiotically blame Trump and the Republicans just aren't going to fly.

Rhetoric notwithstanding, I think that overall point is correct. Public perceptions of the two parties are pretty much baked in. The GOP is very much perceived as the party of more stringent controls on the border (and immigration generally), and the Democrats are perceived as the party favoring strong consideration of the rights and needs of migrants.

But again, I don't think folks are questioning whether the GOP's gambit in scuttling the border bill negotiations would work to their political benefit. I personally think it will. It gives the Democrats something to say back when they're being attacked on the border, but overall the issue still favors the GOP.

I think the main criticism is that the GOP has passed up their best opportunity to actually get changes to the border. This was probably their only chance to get a border bill passed in the next decade or more - even if Trump were to win, and be followed by President Abbott. They're not going to be able to get 60 votes in the Senate for anything as good (by their lights) as this bill again. They're not going to take any damage from that in this election, because they've sold their voters on the idea that border security depends on who the President is, rather than changes to the statutes or the budget. But they're very quickly going to run up against the fact that's not true. So they're going to find themselves in 2025 unable to do anything to solve these problems.