License Sobriety Test

The drivers license issue looks as if it might become the gift that keeps on giving-at least for a NYS Republican party looking to get off of life-supports. In today's NY Times, the paper reports on the growing fears among Congressional Democrats that the license policy can and will be held against them in next years election. As the Times puts it: "The opposition is especially strong among Democrats bracing for the prospect of tough re-election battles next year in politically moderate and conservative regions of New York; they have begun to speak out on the issue and, in many cases, have disavowed the plan."

All of which puts Governor Spitzer in the political doghouse, and makes the license advocates look kind of like Typhoid Mary: “It’s hugely unpopular,” said Representative Michael Arcuri, a first-term Democrat from central New York whom Republicans hope to defeat next year. “I don’t think it would be wise to move forward with it at this point.”

And less we forget about the cause of all of this underlying political sentiment, there's the Times story this morning on the killings in Newark-all of the suspects are in the country illegally, and a number had been arrested before, but not detained or deported because of the concerns manifested by the DMI crowd about the sensibility of the rights of illegals (has a nice oxymoronic ring to it, doesn't it?).

Here's the money quote to remind us what this fight's all about: "The $3 million bail set for Mr. Godinez included half a million dollars stemming from an outstanding arrest warrant from 2003. Mr. Godinez was accused of taking part in the violent robbery of three people outside a bar in Irvington, N.J." And, oh yes, all of these killers are believed to be members of M-13, a violent Salvadoren gang. Some economic contribution!

Update

The license issue won't only impact the congressional races. As the NY Post reports this morning, Hilllary has felt the impact of Hurricane Elliot as well, and could feel it even more if a bill being introduced by Pete King gets traction: "In a move that could put Sen. Hillary Clinton on the spot, Rep. Pete King will soon introduce a bill in Congress that would block New York and other states from providing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. "I believe strongly that the federal government has the right to do it because illegal immigration and homeland security are federal issues," King (R-L.I.) told The Post."

And the issue has already hurt her in New Hamphshire, which prompts this from the Post editorialists: "By contrast, there's a real clarity to the licenses-for-illegals question: "Yes" is a vote for illegal immigration. "No" is a vote against it. Is that fair? Probably not. But who should expect otherwise when the issue is eligibility for a document virtually all law-abiding Americans have - and value - but that Spitzer proposes to give willy-nilly to people whose very presence in the country is a violation of the law?
It is Clinton's misfortune that her governor decided to force the issue in her home state just as the presidential race was moving to the top of the stretch."