Free Republic

--SNIP--Peter Pope, Spitzer's policy director, will be questioned about the role he played along with Spitzer Counsel and the governor's first deputy secretary, in a statement signed by Spitzer aide Darren Dopp July 22......The Commission on Public Integrity determined Dopp's testimony appeared to contradict his sworn statement. (Dopp is under investigation for possible perjury.)

Sen. Clinton came under fire from immigration supporters for her licensing flip-flop. Clinton stunned advocates by announcing she would not support licensing after indicating she favored the move.........hours after Gov Spitzer withdrew his plan, with a Rasmussen Reports poll showing 77% of Americans opposed licensing illegals....

Just hours after withdrawing his spectacularly unpopular proposal to license illegals, Spitzer reversed course on his plan to require more online retailers to collect sales taxes - slated to hit shoppers just in time for Christmas. Spitzer's U-turn followed a new poll showing that 70% of New Yorkers oppose licensing illegals. The plan had also sunk his approval ratings to new lows.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who aides recently said supported Gov. Spitzer's controversial plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens, yesterday hit reverse and for the first time came out forcefully against the idea. Clinton's about-face came hours after a besieged Spitzer withdrew his proposal because of massive opposition and just a day before today's latest Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. Clinton has taken heat from her Democratic and Republican rivals after fumbling over the issue during the last debate on Oct. 30.

Gov. Spitzer's sky-high popularity has fallen faster and further than that of any governor in modern state history due to his licensing illegals plan and the ongoing Dirty Tricks Scandal.... The Siena College Research Institute survey - conducted before Spitzer said he's scrapping the plan - found New Yorkers, by an overwhelming 64 to 33% disapprove of the job he's doing......and by 70-25%, voters said they were against Spitzer's licensing illegals. "Spitzer's standing with voters has fallen faster and further than any politician in recent NY history," said a Siena spokesman.

Gov. Spitzer's spectacular political crash-and-burn, reflected in a stunning Siena College poll, seems to have had an immediate effect: The governor will deep-six his ludicrous driver's-licenses-for-illegal-aliens proposal..........Elected a year ago with 69% of the vote (widest victory margin in state history), Spitzer can now claim support from just 25% of voters. Almost twice that, 49%, say they'd back "someone else," were the next gubernatorial election held today.

DES MOINES.....a Grinnell College student, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, said a Clinton aide told her to ask Hillary a scripted question about global warming at a bio-diesel plant event.... "They were canned," according to The Scarlet & Black student newspaper. Before the event, Clinton's staff member got Gallo-Chasanoff to ask the after Clinton's speech. "One of the senior staffers told me what [to ask]," she said. When Gallo-Chasanoff asked about global-warming, Clinton replied that young people often ask her that question.

--SNIP--Bill Clinton, speaking in Chicago yesterday, shifted his comments to warn about "swift boat" attacks from Republicans - rather than from fellow Democrats - after getting slammed by Obama and Sen. Chris Dodd for "over the top" criticism of his wife's rivals. "I thought it made all the Democrats vulnerable to a 'swift boat' kind of ad in the general election," the ex-president told reporters after a rally.

How happy is Clinton that Gov. Spitzer stirred up his licenses- for-illegals firestorm? Not very, we'd guess. She's been talking from both sides of her mouth on the issue since last week's debate - and her dissembling appears to be costing her. A Rasmussen poll showed that Clinton's support in NH (site of the debate) has dropped sharply........A recent Washington Times national poll showed 77% of Americans believe illegal aliens shouldn't be licensed.

**** If Clinton can't stand the heat, she should get back into the kitchen NAMES REDACTED East Meadow **** The "deer in the headlights" look during the last debate belies the carefully crafted and rehearsed image of a strong feminist woman. North Bergen, N.J. **** We saw eight years of this when her husband was president, do we really want to see it again? Hazlet, N.J. **** If Clinton does well in a debate, she's victorious and presidential. If she does poorly, she's a victim. That's the kind of leadership America needs. Syracuse **** Who is advising her, Joe Torre?...

Clinton's once-commanding lead in New Hampshire has been slashed - a sign that the licensing controversy may have bled into the critical first-primary state..... .Clinton leads Obama by only 10 percentage points - 34-24 - in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.... A month ago, Clinton lead by 23-points in the same survey........a new survey in Iowa shows Clinton's lead dipping to just 3 points. She leads Obama, 28-25%.....

Rep. Peter King on his legislation to bar states from granting driver's licenses to illegal aliens. 'This is one time when good government and good politics come together.“ Rep. King will introduce a bill to block New York and other states from licensing illegal immigrants. The ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee, expects to introduce legislation next week with Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).....King said he decided on the legislation after hearing Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff say that although he opposes licensing illegals, there is nothing the federal government can do to stop a state from...

Tuesday's TV news bites report Hillary's post-debate approval rating sink to an astounding 52% to 43% (Marist Poll). CNN reported Monday afternoon a sharp 11-point drop in Clinton's lead over her nearest rival, Barack Obama. Clinton went against the wishes of enormous grassroots opposition when she flubbed her debate answer to a nitwit plan by Gov Spitzer to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. The next day Hillary sought to "clarify" her position by inexplicably endorsing the sure-fail Spitzer licensng plan. Hillary's suck-up to voting blocs habit is of longstanding----her hyphenate pandering goes back a long way. She's hooked on...

Bill Clinton found himself in an unusual and uncomfortable position - drawing intense fire from Democratic presidential candidates and a brushback from his wife's own campaign. Barack Obama and Chris Dodd took rare shots at the former president for claiming critics of Hillary's stance on giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants were unfairly trying to "swift boat" her. It's the first time any Democratic candidates have attacked Bill Clinton......he is enormously popular among party members

Former President Clinton on Monday compared Republican criticism of his wife's position on driver's license for illegal immigrants to the ads that helped sink John Kerry's White House hopes in 2004. "I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy land again," Clinton told some 3,000 members of the American Postal Worker's Union at a convention. At the end of a televised Democratic presidential debate last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton hedged on whether she supported a plan by her home state governor, New York's Eliot Spitzer, to issue licenses to...

In what would normally be a very dull election day, observers are closely watching whether Republicans gain an edge in races where Gov. Spitzer's plan for licensing illegal aliens has become a major issue. "The Spitzer thing doesn't help anyone in a close race," declared veteran political consultant Joe Mercurio.

Somber Democrats are privately conceding Gov. Spitzer's controversial plan to license illegals has done the impossible--reviving NY's long-moribund Republican Party. "He's the best thing for Republicans since Mario Cuomo," influential Democrats angrily told The Post. Democratic candidates told the governor's political advisers to keep him far away from their campaigns. Republican leaders have begun joking that Spitzer should be named their party's "honorary strategic advisor" .........Democrats and Republicans agree Spitzer's licensing plan has: * Seriously damaged Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, as shown in last week's Democratic presidential debate. * Helped guarantee blowout GOP wins in hotly fought contests upsatate....

....the spin coming out of Clinton's campaign is men were ganging up on Hillary. Sorry, but when girls insist on playing hardball with the boys, they don't get to cry foul - or change the game to dodge ball - when they get bruised.....The NY Times reported Clinton's campaign tried to create sympathy for Hillary as they did when Lazio confronted her during the 2000 Senate race. A Clinton adviser told the Washington Post, "Ultimately, it was six guys against her, and she came off as one strong woman." --SNIP-- Hillary can handle the men just fine. What's giving her...

Barack Obama laced into Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday, accusing her of playing a victim of sexism. "I hope that Sen. Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else, and I think that that's why she's running for president," Obama said on NBC's "Today" show. He added that Clinton was using a "don't pick on me" strategy that doesn't mesh with the image of strength she's tried to project.

Finally, Hillary Clinton is getting some moderately tough questions. People are finally noticing that in answering questions, she follows the advice of Yogi Berra: "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." At Tuesday's Democratic debate, when asked whether she supports Spitzer's plan to license illegals.....Clinton's response can be summarized as: Yes, no, maybe, sorta, kinda. Before the press corps relapses into its coma and Clinton's competitors go back to hiding from her shadow, let's see if she can answer a few more questions: