Thread: Driver's licenses for illegal migrants becomes election issu

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) at Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate in Philadelphia.
(Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

Driver's licenses for illegal migrants becomes election issue
By Larry Eichel
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
11/01/2007

PHILADELPHIA — On the day after the Democratic debate here, the tempest generated by Hillary Rodham Clinton's handling of the issue of drivers licenses for illegal immigrants refused to go away.

Democratic and Republican presidential candidates alike joined in criticizing her Wednesday.

And the Clinton campaign, hoping the episode will not become a metaphor for evasiveness, clarified her position on the issue.

In the debate, Clinton struggled with a question about whether she supported a proposal by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to allow illegal immigrants to get licenses.

At first, she appeared to endorse the idea, saying she understood why Spitzer wanted to issue licenses. Then, she seemed to reject it, saying she "didn't think this was the best thing for any governor to do."

Her Democratic rivals seized upon her performance, hoping to use it as confirmation of their claim that she has avoided specific positions and sometimes engaged in doubletalk.

"I think last night's debate really exposed this fault line," Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday.

At a news conference in New Hampshire, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said, "In the course of three minutes, I heard Clinton, Senator Clinton, say two different things. When you get a yes-or-no question, you can't say yes and no."

Wednesday, the Clinton campaign issued a statement confirming that she does, in fact, support the Spitzer plan.

"Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform," her campaign said.

Republicans joined in the attack on the Democratic front-runner, slamming her both for waffling and her support for an idea that the electorate does not welcome.

According to a CNN/USA Today survey taken in mid-October, Americans oppose licenses for illegal immigrants by a 3-1 ratio. Democrats oppose it almost 2-1.

"You know, she was being attacked all night for taking different positions in front of different audiences and then by the end of the night, she took different positions in front of the same audience," Rudy Giuliani told radio host Glenn Beck. "It was pretty amazing. … Of course, you don't give out drivers licenses to illegals."

Mitt Romney, who appeared on Laura Ingraham's radio show, agreed with Giuliani on both points, saying that Clinton "was tap dancing so much that I thought I tuned into 'Dancing with the Stars.'"

Democratic candidates themselves are divided on the issue. Obama, Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio support it; Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Joseph Biden of Delaware oppose it.

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I'm really beginning to believe Hillary is depending on illegals voting.

But she needs to realize the illegals don't outnumber citizens yet.