By By Jerry Fancher
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's (D) introduced a plan two months ago to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. His goal was to increase security, make the roads safer, and bring the immigrants "out of the shadows." Most reasonable people believed that it would make the country less safe and allow would-be terrorist easier access to get official identification.
Why did New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's withdraw his plan to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants? Gov. Spitzer conceded that there was too much public opposition to the plan. He stated, "It does not take a stethoscope to hear the pulse of New Yorkers on this topic." After weeks of discussion, the people's voice was heard. Gov. Spitzer abandoned the effort on Wednesday.
Another example of your opinion counting is presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D) of New York. Sen. Clinton talked around the issue when asked what she would do about issuing the licenses at the Democratic debate a couple of weeks ago.
After reading the tea leaves of public opinion, Sen. Clinton came out against granting the licenses to illegal immigrants. Her statement said, "I support Gov. Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal. As president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."
I cannot understand how Sen. Clinton, who has been in Washington since 1992, would not have an opinion on the matter until now. This causes me to wonder, does she base all of her positions on polls? Hopefully we can determine what her core values are during the campaign.
Your opinion helped defeat legislation that would legalize as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants less than five months ago.
With Alabama's presidential primary on February 5, 2008 and county elections next summer, get involved. Your opinions do count.
Jerry Fancher is Chairman of the Franklin County Republican Executive Committee. He can be reached via email at fancherjd@yahoo.com