Democrats Ought to Waffle on Licensing Illegal Immigrants

By Craig Crawford | November 1, 2007 5:17 AM | | Comments (2)

PHILADELPHIA — The dust is still settling from Tuesday night’s combative debate among Democratic presidential candidates and it appears that, like the debate itself, much of the flak is piling on Hillary Rodham Clinton . The New York senator is mostly getting hammered for failing to clearly endorse or oppose giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Her campaign was worried enough to put out a statement on Wednesday clarifying that she supports the licensing proposal by her home state’s governor, Democrat Eliot Spitzer.

Politically speaking, Clinton should have kept her options open as she did in the debate — and so should her Democratic foes, even if the Spitzer plan appeals to the party’s Hispanic voters.

Sure, Clinton belatedly took sides in an effort to deflect an emerging and potentially deadly narrative that she waffles on the issues. (Wonder who will be the first among her foes to underscore the charge by distributing real waffles at campaign events?)

Still, in backing Spitzer’s proposal, Democrats like Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama might be picking the wrong idea for the general election. It could prove to be extremely unpopular for most voters — and a major battering ram for Republicans, who are rushing to the right in their abandonment of President George W. Bush ’s outreach to Hispanics.

More from CQ Politics

    Comments

  1. Well, I have to agree with Sen. Clinton, that Gov. Spitzer had "to do something." What better way to identify someone than by a driver's license which is essentially an ID card such as they have in France and other countries. Of course there are pros and cons on that issue, but no one seems to want to do anything about illegal immigrants. We treat them like they don't deserve any respect at all. Where are our Christian values that the Right is always screaming about? But of course, someone opposed will come along with a french fried waffle and probably add some jam to it instead of Smart Balance.

    Posted by: Clementina Filosa-Morton | November 1, 2007 10:11 AM

  2. Lunacy! Absolute lunacy! Anyone willing to be intellectually honest about this issue realizes that issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens will not make them better drivers, nor will it drive down insurance rates. The states of North Carolina and Tennessee documented that this hair-brained scheme the Dems want so badly is a total failure. In fact the only reason the Democratic Party is so hell-bent on giving away licenses to illegals is to sign them up as new voters! Let's cut the crap and be honest here. The Wall Street Republicans love the cheap labor illegals provide; the Democratic Party loves the cheap votes illegals can provide. Between the two of them, there is no political will or courage to do the right thing!!!!

    Posted by: Kerry | November 3, 2007 9:29 PM

Post A Comment


(for verification only; will not be published with your comment)