Paul,

You raise a great point. Barnes does not address the issue that has dominated headlines in recent weeks and one that causes some deep divisions within the party.

Along with the Iraq war and gas prices, it’s safe to say that a sizeable chunk of the GOP base is disillusioned with the president’s decision not to support an enforcement-centered immigration policy.

Barnes has addressed the topic in his book “Rebel-In-Chief,” in which he writes of Bush:

… [H]e has alienated certain elements of the conservative movement, especially paleoconservatives led by Patrick Buchanan. They recoil at Bush’s internationalism, particularly his decision to invade Iraq, and his fondness for federal spending and for immigrants.

Later, Barnes adds: 

Bush does not agree with the many conservatives who favor a massive buildup of guards along America’s southern border or those who advocate denying government services to illegal immigrants and their families.

Barnes wrote his book before the most recent wave of interest in illegal immigration. At the time he finished his book in late 2005, Barnes believed Bush’s view would prevail:

Despite being at odds with many fellow conservatives’ views, Bush’s immigration policy is likely to stick. The politics of immigration, more than Bush’s sentimental view of immigrants, make it so.

Sentiments such as these are not likely to win for Bush the fans that Barnes is seeking.