When I saw the headline

GOP immigration strategy struggles in CO session IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Published 08:05 a.m., Saturday, April 2, 2011

my first thought was "Does this mean Colorado Republicans are turning chicken?"

In terms of political profiling, this is always a good thing to suspect. It's a little more complicated than that:

The proposals included attempts to copy Arizona's plan to give law enforcement broad authority to detain illegal immigrants and bills requiring proof of citizenship to vote. A divided Legislature, a focus on the economy and worries about the national backlash Arizona received contributed to the demise of the bills.

The GOP's toughest proposals died early. Two proposals would have allowed police to arrest anyone they suspected to be in the country illegally. One bill was shelved by its sponsor, while the other died in a Democratic-controlled committee in the Senate.

However, it's still a sign that momentum has shifted to our side."Two proposals would have allowed police to arrest anyone they suspected to be in the country illegally. "

That's the kind of thing that seemed to be unthinkable a few years ago. Republican Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie still thinks it's unthinkable.

I've never understood why. We titled a Sam Francis column on this question Should The Cops Enforce The Law?That's a question expecting the answer "yes," but with the Bush administration, even where terror was a possibility, it was "Maybe."