Hillary Clinton’s campaign is now saying she supports driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. “Hillary supports state policies to provide driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants,” a spokesperson told the Huffington Post.
The issue gave Clinton fits last time she ran for president. She was for it before being against it.
There was this famous exchange debate exchange that caused Clinton to flip-flop against allowing illegal immigrants to have driver’s licenses.
NBC’s Tim Russert asked Clinton during that 2007 debate, “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?”
“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,” Clinton said.
A month after that debate, Clinton came out firmly against driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. “Senator Hillary Clinton has come out firmly against giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, one day before a debate against her fellow Democrats, who have put her on the defensive on the issue… Her unclear position on the matter in the last Democratic debate drew sharp attacks from her rivals and has proved endless fodder for her critics,” the New York Times reported.
But now Clinton has completely flipped again, taking up the position now most in line with the Democratic base. It would appear the front-running Democratic candidate is doing her best to adopt the positions of her chief rival, Martin O’Malley, whose long supported this liberal policy.
