Spitzer Backing Off From Licenses for Lawbreakers®?
Eliot Spitzer has caused rather a lot of problems for Democrats with his Licenses for Lawbreakers® scheme. His plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants provided the tool that wounded Hillary Clinton and started making her look a lot less inevitable - triggering a sharp drop in Clinton's opinion poll numbers. But now, his attempt to ram the plan through may be shelved by Spitzer.
The governor’s aides have grown increasingly concerned that reaction to the plan is preventing Mr. Spitzer from advancing or even discussing other matters. It has also become an issue for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign and has caused anxiety among other Democrats.
After a meeting on Friday with Hispanic lawmakers at a conference here, Mr. Spitzer was not displaying the defiance with which he had defended the plan in the past. Asked by a reporter if he would change or table the plan, the governor said he was sticking with it “as of now,” but suggested that he was open to abandoning it.
“Sometimes you put out an idea and there isn’t so much support, and you try to persuade people and you see where you go,” Mr. Spitzer said. “This is the way the world works.”
He added: “I don’t think there’s ever been an executive, a president, a governor who hasn’t put out ideas, that at the end of the day there isn’t support, and so things don’t work out, but as of now, sure, I think this is the right idea from a security perspective. We’ll wait and see.”
McQ over at QandO points out that this is a bald-faced lie. That is not what Spitzer did at all. He wasn't trying to persuade people, he was trying to push this through by executive fiat:
Uh, yeah, but this wasn't an "idea" and Spitzer wasn't trying to "persuade" anyone. He used an executive order to put the measure into effect. It was only after the fact, when his ploy had been discovered and was catching so much flack, that he was suddenly interested in "persuading" people.
Spitzer also ended up hurting presidential candidates, Clinton and others, and is undoubtedly taking heat from them and from the national committee. The voters in New York are furious with Spitzer and are overwhelmingly against the plan. Spitzer is even taking heat from pro-illegal immigrant factions because he tried to water the plan down in response to the uproar it generated.
Spitzer is in a political corner over this debacle. He knows it, the reporters know it and the voters sure as heck know it. It is only a matter of time before the plan is quietly disappeared. But it has already done serious damage. Sure, Democrats were quick to crow that the issue of illegal immigration had not figured in state and local elections on election day earlier this month. But those were state and local, weren't they? It will be a different story on the national level. The Democrats know that. That is why they are after Spitzer and his plan.
Immigration Reform | Gaius Sunday, 11 November , 2007
By Uncle Fester, Sunday, 11 November , 2007 @ 10:27 am
Stupid should hurt.
By Gaius, Sunday, 11 November , 2007 @ 10:30 am
Yes it should. Great phrase, Uncle Fester. I gave you credit when I used it.
By Roger Stone, Sunday, 11 November , 2007 @ 4:39 pm
Hit the nail right on the head.
Prince Eliot tried to circumvent the legislature and make this policy by Fiat!
Bravo-
ROGER STONE
By mockinbird, Monday, 12 November , 2007 @ 4:27 pm
The Governor’s plan, and his methods, say something about him…and for the rest of his political life, we’ll be watching.