{"id":13614,"date":"2007-11-16T10:05:41","date_gmt":"2007-11-16T15:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/13614.html"},"modified":"2007-11-16T10:05:41","modified_gmt":"2007-11-16T15:05:41","slug":"who-put-drivers-licenses-on-the-national-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/who-put-drivers-licenses-on-the-national-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Who put driver’s licenses on the national agenda?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.) proposed that undocumented immigrants be eligible for driver’s licenses as a public-safety issue, New Yorkers were less than impressed with the idea. The issue went from a state to a national issue a couple of weeks ago when Hillary Clinton said she thought the Spitzer plan was a good idea, which she wasn’t prepared to endorse.<\/p>\n

Given the attention to the issue in last night’s debate in Las Vegas, one might think this has become one of the most pressing issues in the nation. It’s really not. And as Noam Scheiber noted<\/a>, it’s time to stop pretending that it is.<\/p>\n

Man, I really hate that illegal immigrant driver’s license question. There’s a reason all three major candidates have struggled to answer it: It’s a dumb question that sheds almost no light on what they would do as president. No Democratic president is going to introduce federal legislation making immigrants eligible for driver’s licenses; and no Democratic president is going to introduce legislation preventing states from doing the same. So it’s moot. What a president does is influence federal immigration policy, which is what all three front-runners keep trying to say every time they get asked about this.<\/p>\n

The audience laughed when Obama tried to say he voted for this legislation as a state senator but wouldn’t propose such legislation himself. But that’s a perfectly legitimate answer. No one would.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m sure everyone has specific issues they’d like to see emphasized in a debate, and there’s no way to get to everything, but last night’s event featured almost no discussion of Iraq policy, nothing about FISA or surveillance programs, nothing about torture policy, nothing about global warming, the list goes on (and on).<\/p>\n

But Wolf Blitzer made sure that every single candidate on the stage responded to a hypothetical question about whether they would support drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform — a policy the next president will have almost no control over anyway<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Some candidates had the temerity to suggest that they discuss the broader immigration policy, but that was discouraged<\/i>.
\n
\nConsider this exchange<\/a>:<\/p>\n

MR. BLITZER: All right. I want to just press you on this point because it’s a logical follow-up, and then I want to go and ask everyone. On the issue that apparently tripped up Senator Clinton earlier, the issue of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, I take it, Senator Obama, you support giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Is that right?<\/p>\n

SEN. OBAMA: When I was a state senator in Illinois, I voted to require that illegal aliens get trained, get a license, get insurance to protect public safety. (Scattered applause.) That was my intention. And — but I have to make sure that people understand the problem we have here is not drivers licenses. Undocumented workers don’t come here to drive. (Laughter.) They don’t go — they’re not coming here to go to the In-N-Out Burger. That’s not the reason they’re here. They’re here to work. And so instead of being distracted by what has now become a wedge issue, let’s focus on actually solving the problem that —<\/p>\n

MR. BLITZER: All right.<\/p>\n

SEN. OBAMA: — this administration, the Bush administration, has done nothing about.<\/p>\n

MR. BLITZER: Well, let’s go through everybody because I want to be precise. I want to make sure the viewers and those of us who are here fully understand all of your positions on this.<\/p>\n

Barring, avoiding, assuming there isn’t going to be comprehensive immigration reform, do you support or oppose drivers licenses for illegal immigrants?<\/p>\n

SEN. OBAMA: I am not proposing that that’s what we do. What I’m saying is that we can’t — (interrupted by laughter). No, no, no, no, look, I have already said I support the notion that we have to deal with public safety and that drivers licenses at the state level can make that happen. But what I also —<\/p>\n

MR. BLITZER: All right.<\/p>\n

SEN. OBAMA: But what I also know, Wolf, is that if we keep on getting distracted by this problem, then we are not solving it.<\/p>\n

MR. BLITZER: But — because this is the kind of question that is sort of available for a yes or no answer. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) Either you support it or you oppose it. Let’s go down and get a yes or no from everyone….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Who cares? If this were a gubernatorial debate in a state with a large immigrant population, then sure, but this isn’t a presidential issue.<\/p>\n

Is there some great public yearning for a never-ending discussion about driver’s licenses that I’m not aware of? Can the political world move on now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.) proposed that undocumented immigrants be eligible for driver’s licenses as a public-safety issue, New Yorkers were less than impressed with the idea. The issue went from a state to a national issue a couple of weeks ago when Hillary Clinton said she thought the Spitzer plan was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}