MICKEY KAUS: Why I’m Still Worried About The Pelosi-Reid “Lame Duck.”

It seems to me the trainwreck of big legislative issues is another reason for DREAM opponents to worry. Why? Precisely because compared with the giant, headline;grabbing issues, DREAM looks like small potatoes. Suppose the Democrats fight furiously against a big item on the GOP wish list–say, extending the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,00–but suddenly let Republicans know that they will cave, and give their opponents a huge victory, if only the GOP agrees to slide this little immigration provision into the larger bill. Will Republicans have the fortitude to say “no”? Will the press pay attention to the DREAM “sweetener,” or focus only on the big set-piece tax battle?

The DREAM Act might fail in a clean, well-publicized up-or-down vote in the Senate. But slipped into a much bigger bill in the dead of night–I’m not so sure.

Pay attention.