The Immigration debacle is not over. The purity wars are in full bloom as the Amnesty Hypochondriacs move to make sure they will never come close to seeing real reform. In fact, some fools are calling for Sen Martinez to be defeated or recalled (which will, of course, leave Florida with TWO Democrat Senators).

That last point has the talk of “Recall” in Martinez’s district talking loudly. There is even a website collecting signatures.

The truth is the GOP is damaged goods and many people are walking away. And while some are trying to stay on, they cannot hide their feelings:

But the bill’s demise may have greatly damaged the party’s ability to meet its enduring goal of attracting a large percentage of the growing number of Hispanic voters — thousands of whom are ostensibly in line with the party on a host of other issues, said many Republican lawmakers, consultants and Hispanic voters.

“There may be some short-term gain from this,” said Linda Chavez, who served in the Reagan administration and is now chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative public policy group. “But in the long term, it is disastrous for the Republican Party.”

…

“I think it’s bloody for the Republicans,” said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute, a Latino-oriented research and policy organization with offices in San Antonio and Los Angeles. “The Democrats said pro-immigrant stuff, and even if they didn’t support it, it was because they said it wasn’t good enough. The Republicans said anti-immigrant stuff and so now they are going to get killed with this.”

It is a view that many Republicans share. Mr. McCain, who in May told Republicans that “the Hispanic vote is turning against us in very large numbers,” expressed similar thoughts privately this week, aides said.

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Martinez, who is chairman of the national Republican Party, called the bill’s defeat “a bipartisan failure.” To win favor with Hispanics in the future, “We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “I consider it serious.”

Abel Maldonado, a prominent Hispanic Republican in the California State Senate, said he felt that both parties were damaged, but that “It hurts the Republican party a little bit more in terms of bringing more minorities into the party.”

I could go over to rightwing websites and find a host of hate being spewed at Chavez, but what’s the point? The GOP tolerates the haters and relies on them. But what is the point?There will be no new immigration legistlation for years to come, and the GOP will also be in the minority for years to come. So what is someone to do if they want action on this or any other issue? Well, the GOP is not going to be the place to look for years to come – that much is for sure.

Republicans have showed signs of making clear inroads in recent years among Hispanic voters. President Bush took roughly 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California won roughly the same percentage of Hispanic voters in his state in his re-election in 2006 — a strong showing for any Republican candidate here.

But the party saw only about 25 percent of Hispanic voters come its way in the midterm elections last year, an alarming trend for the Republicans looking at 2008. Many Republicans fear that loss of essentially half their market share, though they were not willing to say so on the record.

Say adios to the GOP as a major political voice in 2008. Even in the insiders know the truth they are afraid to say in public. More here.