ALBANY – A politically tone-deaf Gov. Spitzer had no choice but to abandon his controversial driver’s licenses-for-illegals plan because he was the only New York Democrat – not to mention one of the few state residents – still supporting it.
Spitzer’s characteristically defensive defenestration of the scheme – on one hand he admitted to misreading public sentiment, on the other he claimed demagogues had tricked the public – came a day after a devastating Siena College poll showed 70 percent of voters aligned against him, while his personal popularity and job-approval ratings headed down the drain.
But the announcement’s timing had more to do with today’s Democratic presidential debate at which New York favorite daughter Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was likely to again be forced to take a stand on Spitzer’s proposal, Democratic insiders said yesterday.
“Hillary was staggered when she tried to have it both ways at the last [Oct. 30] debate and you can be sure some of her opponents were going to drive in for the kill at this one,” one of the state’s best-known Democrats told The Post.
High-level New York Dems told The Post that Clinton’s political aides sent signals to Spitzer that they were not happy.
“The governor would have had to be crazy not to get the message that Hillary was furious with what he had done,” said a prominent New York Democrat.
Top state Dems – including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, and several members of the state’s congressional delegation – had made it clear to Spitzer that his plan was “a disaster for everyone.”
Spitzer’s plan was a cause celebre for state Republicans in last week’s elections, helping them in winning several important local contests.
Republicans – who have developed a visceral hatred of the governor in the wake of the Dirty Tricks Scandal – made it clear yesterday that they’re not ready to bury the hatchet.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) launched new attacks on what they said was Spitzer’s plan to grant early parole to hundreds of convicted killers, including cop killers, now in state prisons.
The Republicans have drawn blood and – as next year’s presidential and legislative races approach – they want to make sure the wound never heals.