Hillary Clinton: soft on driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Obama supports it)

I'll replace the following with a transcript when it's available, but from tonight's Democratic debate:
[Hillary Clinton says:] [Eliot Spitzer] is trying to make up for the failure of the Bush Administration to address illegal immigration. He's filling a vaccuum... We need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform."

Only Dodd thinks that illegal immigrants should not have driver's licenses.

Hillary refuses to say she supports it, but says she understands why Spitzer is doing it.

Dodd tries to go after her, and seems to succeed. "But what is the identification if someone runs into you today?" She says, "It makes a lot of sense. What is a governor supposed to do? We have failed, and George W. Bush has failed to address this issue."
UPDATE: The exchange starts on page 20. Chris Dodd is actually stronger against this then I would have given him credit for:
Clinton: Well, I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do...

(Unknown): Wait a minute...

Clinton: And we have failed. We have failed.

Dodd: No, no, no. You said -- you said yes...

Clinton: No.

Dodd: ... you thought it made sense to do it.

Clinton: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving...

Dodd: That's a legitimate issue. But driver's license goes too far, in my view.

Clinton: Well, you may say that, but what is the identification?

If somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker...

Dodd: There's ways of dealing with that.

Clinton: Well...

Dodd: This is a privilege, not a right.

Clinton: Well, what Governor Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses, one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues, another which is another ordinary driver's license, and then a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road, so...

Dodd: That's a bureaucratic nightmare.

Clinton: ... it's not the full privilege.

Russert: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure of what I heard. Do you, the New York senator, Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license?

You told the New Hampshire paper that it made a lot of sense. Do you support his plan?

Clinton: You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays "gotcha." It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problems. We have failed. And George Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York, we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows.

He's making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform.

Comments

blah blah blah bring them out of the shadows blah blah blah

Once again Hillary is trying to triangulate. Face it, that is what Clintons do. Up till now she has been out pandering the rest of field, except for Bill "Vote for me I am Mexican" Richardson for the latino vote. I am surprised Dodd is clearly backing away from previous panderings. Obama's camp is simply out to lunch. Does anybody at his "Audacity of Cluelessness, I mean Hope" campaign headquarters look at opinion polls or just happen to catch 5 minutes of Lou Dobbs while channel surfing. I guess that is what happens when so much of your campaign support rests on the deep as a bird bath insights of under 25 year olds and casual followers of political issues. Lou Dobbs made a great point the other night. Taxi, landscaping and roofing companies local Delivery businesses and truck driving services would love DLs for Illegal Aliens. It would open up a vast new pool to tap into for cheap labor. No need any longer for hiring a "gringo" or legal latino citizen/resident to simply drive around a work crew. Somebody needs to look at the campaign donations that have been flowing to supporters of DLs for Illegals. So much for having your Middle Class job outsourced/insourced and trying to made do for a while driving a Fed-Ex route.

You can't play Gotcha with someone who never stays in one place.....Keep bouncing around Hillary...eventually people will realize you stand for absolutely NOTHING!

Hillary has really stepped in with both feet into a massive turd pile. The three tier drivers license scenario is a fiasco waiting to happen. It would greenlight a low security level where anybody can have a license that will rapidly become a farce. How will New York airports not to mention other states handle the ids? Next will come a plaque of virtually worthless car insurance provider con men seeking out the illegals market that never pay claims and wreck havoc on the entire state car insurance industry. Like in Chicago you will have a huge organized crime car insurance ripoff racket. Not to mention that the temptation for voting fraud is also massive. If any of New York's newspapers were worth a dam they would begin to investigate what business interests are lobbying for DLs for illegals aliens. Besides the usual ethnocentric interests, I bet lots of low wage delivery and suburban service providers would love DLs for illegals. Like I said before it means having an entire landscaping, tree trimming and roofing crews made up of all illegals. As soon as Spitzer got his way, New York would be flooded with illegals looking for driving related occupations.

C'mon Hillary, just answer the question. What we all crave is a little clarity about our candidates positions, and decisiveness is a quality we respect in a potential leader. A simple yes or no will suffice. The question begged for a clear short answer, not a spin on Bush or CIR or the price of tea in China. Presidential material? Not.

Hey anyone here know how I can insure that a contractor working on my rotted front porch does not use Illegals. They have told me verbally they do NOT but not sure I can trust them???