From cis.org:

Those who advise the GOP to “get right” with Hispanics by supporting the Senate’s massive immigration bill never consider the downside of traducing principles in the hope of gaining votes. Perhaps it can be said of “death by pandering”, as the Washington Post’ Kathleen Parker suggests is the case with “principled martyrs,” that, “[P]rincipled or not, you’re still dead in the end.”

But death by pandering strips you of both your integrity and your honor. Worse, it doesn’t give you the opportunity to make your case and try to gain supporters for your perspective.

In essence, it is just giving up.

http://www.cis.org/renshon/gop-and-immigration-death-pandering