The June 6th special election in California’s 50th District between Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Francine Busby presents our least favorite open borders newspaper with a real quandary: to support the Republican, as it would 99.9 percent of the time, or—horrors!—back the Democrat?

The Journal is, naturally, wishing , hoping and praying that Busby prevails in a race currently considered a dead-heat.

And what exactly would make the Journal root for a Democrat? I won’t keep you in suspense—the answer is immigration.

Bilbray, a former Congressman, is strong on border enforcement and sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens. And Bilbray has long supported legislation to end the anchor baby/automatic U.S. citizenship provision. The Journal considers these trivial issues, if even that.

On the other hand, Busby is a candidate the Journal can embrace even though she is one of those nasty Democrats.

Busby, like the Journal, smarmily says she is opposed to “amnesty” but thinks that “earned legalization” is an entirely different matter. She was even caught on tape saying to an illegal alien: “You don’t need papers to vote.”

Given the outrage over S.2611 (Arizona Senator John McCain cancelled a trip to San Diego to appear with Bilbray so that he could address a Hispanic leadership group) plus the fact that the ultra-conservative 50th District has 44 percent registered Republicans versus less than 30 percent registered Democrats, Bilbray should be coasting. Why isn’t he?

The Journal would have you believe that his “hard line status” on immigration diminishes his appeal to moderate Republicans.

But we know that ending illegal immigration and reducing legal immigration resonates with all Americans.

What the Journal is loath to admit is the most obvious. Bilbray’s albatross is not his strong stand against immigration.

What’s keeping the Bilbray-Busby race close is the urgent voter sentiment to rebuke the policies of Republican President George W. Bush, still a bright and shining star as far as the Journal is concerned.

Bush’s popularity rating in California is 28 percent . If you don’t think that’s a drag on a Republican candidate’s chances, then think again.

If Bush weren’t in the tank, then Busby would be sharpening her pencils getting ready to return to her old job at the local school board.