Via Hot Air:

Smells like … victory.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to abandon a plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, officials familiar with the decision told The Associated Press Tuesday night…

The governor’s office signaled to New York lawmakers Tuesday that Spitzer will say at the meeting that he is shelving the plan and that immigration is a federal issue to be handled by Washington, according to congressional aides who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.

..

About 70 percent of New Yorkers oppose the license plan, according to a Siena College poll of 625 registered state voters released Tuesday. The poll, conducted Nov. 5-8, had a sampling margin of 3.9 percentage points.

70 percent in a state bluer than the oceans. I can’t wait to see what this chastening does to the Democrats’ plank on amnesty during the campaign. Thanks, Spitz!

And now, Hillary, who waffled three ways from Tuesday on this issue, is making a stand:

On the day after Spitzer pulls the plug and the day before the next Democratic debate. Tough, strong, smart:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday came out against granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, after weeks of pressure in the presidential race to take a position on a now-failed ID plan from her home state governor…

“I support Governor Spitzer’s decision today to withdraw his proposal,” Clinton said in a statement. “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.”

Hey, remember when she supported the idea and then opposed it in the span of about three minutes? And then supported it again? I think we’ve all probably seen that debate video by now but go watch it again, focusing this time not on trying to decipher whether she supports the plan or not but on how careful she is never to commit firmly to any position. She thinks Spitzer’s being sensible, but of course there are problems with the proposal, but that’s George Bush’s America for you, etc etc. It’s an object lesson in what Krauthammer says about her being the supreme pragmatist: it’s all about leaving room to wiggle in the future in case she has to do so. Like, say, right now.

And there may be a darker connection:

Report: Clinton Aides Told Spitzer to Dump Licenses for Illegals

Captain Renault would be shocked: Hillary Clinton’s campaign put pressure on Eliot Spitzer to drop his disastrous licenses-for-illegals plan.

The word came from crack NY Post Albany reporter Fred Dicker [pictured here], appearing on this afternoon’s Hardball.

View video here.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Do you know if Hillary Clinton had anything to do with Governor Spitzer’s decision to do his 180?

FRED DICKER: Yeah, we believe she did. We were told — I was told — at a very high level in New York politics that Mrs. Clinton’s campaign or some of her top people signalled to Governor Spitzer’s people that he had damaged her. They were wondering what the heck he was up to, why did he bring it to the floor now, and made it clear that the governor was hurting her and he ought to back down if he wanted to help her, which he says he wants to do.

And the rest is history. Spitzer dumped his proposal, and Hillary immediately announced that as president she would not support licenses-for-illegals.

So much for the proposal that a scant two weeks ago she declared was a “good idea.”

I will note for the record, that is unproven and unverified.  So I am not placing all faith in it.  

But no one is acting surprised….

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