From the NYT:

...Yesterday morning, leaders of the platform committee fought to fend off a last-ditch effort by conservatives to challenge a plank supporting Mr. Bush's proposal for a "guest worker" program that would be open to some currently illegal immigrants, which some conservatives denounce as a form of amnesty.

In an effort to counter the president's plan, conservatives proposed adding a call for a federal law to encourage law enforcement agencies to collaborate with immigration officials to expel illegal aliens.

But Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, who heads the platform committee, sent the amendment to be merged with a similar, less strident proposal, and the two were revised to urge continued cooperation "in securing our borders to prevent illegal entry." It passed decisively.

Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union, called the language weak. The issue, he said, "is a place where the president is out of step with his base, which is why the president does not want any discussion of it here."

Let a thousand points of compassion shine, etc. etc.

Yesterday's report containted the following:

In a statement, Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union, called the platform "a bland and uninspiring document" that lacked "solid conservative meat." Although most conservatives enthusiastically support the lengthy platform section on fighting terrorism, Mr. Lessner said, its "open-ended commitment" to keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is troubling.

His harshest criticism fell on President Bush's plan for the new temporary worker program.

"This unfortunate initiative allows those who enter America illegally to become legal residents and apply for citizenship,'' he said. "This idea was D.O.A. among conservatives when the president first broached it, and it is still offensive."

...In a private e-mail message that circulated among conservatives at the platform hearings and on Capitol Hill, Paul S. Teller, legislative director of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, forwarded Mr. Lessner's statement, adding:

"It confirms, as was made so clear to me during the time of President Reagan's funeral and laying in state, that President Bush has no broad vision - and certainly no conservative vision - for the United States of America. All he has is a random assortment of policy prescriptions, many of which contradict one another. And let's not forget his primary goal on federal spending, to cut the deficit in half in five years. Wowwee."