Spitzer Running For Cover

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer appears to be running for cover, abandoning his “Licenses for Lawbreakers™” scheme according to an Associated Press report. Apparently, he has seen the light or, as is more likely, the polls.

The governor is due to meet Wednesday morning with New York's congressional delegation, many of whom openly oppose the program. Debate over the issue also has spilled into New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

The governor's office signaled to New York lawmakers Tuesday that Spitzer will say at the meeting that he is shelving the plan and that immigration is a federal issue to be handled by Washington, according to congressional aides who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.

Last month, Spitzer sought to salvage the license effort by striking a deal with the Department of Homeland Security to create three distinct types of state driver's licenses: one "enhanced" that will be as secure as a passport; a second-tier license good for boarding airplanes; and a third marked not valid for federal purposes that would be available to illegal immigrants and others.

Clinton has been criticized by her Democratic and Republican rivals for her noncommittal answers on the subject. She has said she sympathizes with governors like Spitzer who are forced to confront the issue of immigration because the federal government has not enacted immigration reform. She has not taken a position on the actual plan offered by Spitzer.

A Siena Research Institute poll released today shows that Spitzer is tanking in the public's opinion. Those results gave him a whopping 25% of voters willing to reelect him.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to provide illegal immigrants with driver's licenses has sunk his favorability rating to an all-time low of 41 percent, and has left only 25 percent of voters planning to re-elect him, according to a poll the Siena Research Institute released Tuesday.

Forty-six percent had an unfavorable opinion of Spitzer, and 49 percent said they would "prefer someone else" as the next governor. Last month, 54 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of the governor.

"Eliot Spitzer's standing with voters has fallen faster and further than any politician in recent New York history," Siena spokesman Steven Greenberg said in a written statement. "Everything may not have changed on day one but from the voters' perspective, everything about Governor Spitzer changed in year one."

Spitzer is in a political freefall. There may be enough time for him to recover before the next election, but it does not look good. His antics may well have damaged the Democrats as well. If Clinton manages to win the nomination and then fails to win the general election, Eliot may as well move to another country if he wants to indulge in politics; he will be persona non grata to the Democrats.

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  By Mockinbird, November 14, 2007 @ 11:48 am

  He ought to run for cover! Right into New Jersey!

Other Links to this Post

1. Assorted Babble by Suzie — November 13, 2007 @ 10:34 pm

2. NY Governor Eliot Spitzer Abandons Plan to Issue Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants | Scared Monkeys — November 14, 2007 @ 7:40 am

3. Sister Toldjah — November 14, 2007 @ 7:49 am

4. Neocon News » Spitzer abandons illegal alien driver's licenses; Clinton left flapping in the wind — November 14, 2007 @ 8:13 am