Plan on the Spitz

Facing the inevitable-continuing poll plummeting and a disaster for Democrats-Governor Spitzer cashiered all of the variants of his drivers license plan for illegal immigrants. AS the NY Times reports this morning; "Gov. Eliot Spitzer is abandoning his plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, saying that opposition is just too overwhelming to move forward with such a policy."

Acknowledging the dismal reality-particularly after yesterday's Siena Poll came out showing the governor's approval rating looking up at Governor Pataki's worst showings-Spitzer came to realize that the light at the end of this tunnel was an oncoming train. As the NY Post observed this morning: "The decision to wave the white flag was cemented as a Siena Research Institute poll released yesterday showed Spitzer with his lowest approval ratings ever - with just 25 percent of voters saying they would support his re-election if the vote were held today."

This is a collapse of historic proportions, and it raises the question of whether or not Spitzer can ever recover from the free fall. His only saving grace is that he's got three years to rebound from this disastrous first year. Nothing in the past year, however, should give anyone confidence in his ability to do so. He's going to have to get smarter fast.