For me it’s the most common sense public safety policy in a long-time.  Every driver should be licensed and have liability insurance, that’s the law I must abide by, but undocumented immigrants don’t.  Of course, it is illegal, but no law enforcement agency is enforcing the law, placing my safety and pocketbook at risk.  So I agree with Senator Barack Obama, let them have licenses.

Many will argue that Obama is simply pandering to a base of voters in an attempt to wrestle Latino support away from his chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton.  Perhaps, but I don’t care, I want trained drivers, safer roads and the security to know that if someone crashes into my car, they have the insurance to pay the damages they’ve caused.

Nevertheless, Democratic pollsters Stan Greenberg and James Carville issued a statement last month warning their party on the pitfalls of the driver’s license issue.  The pollsters found that two-thirds of surveyed voters oppose them and the safety argument (partially my own) fails to dent the widespread conviction that granting a driver’s license rewards illegal behavior.

So I must sacrifice my safety and pocketbook to punish illegal behavior that is supported by big business, indifferent government.

I suppose Obama is doing what he said he would, not be afraid to tell people what they need, not just what they want.  Now that is leadership.

Of course, this immigration policy position should certainly please his California endorsers, and he’s got a heavy hitting list starting with the likes of “One Bill Gil” otherwise known as State Senator Gil Cedillo who has tried incessantly to authorize licenses for the all too hated immigrant class.

Obama has the backing of UNITE HERE, the largely Latino and immigrant union who couldn’t deliver in the casino floors of Nevada as well as their former Los Angeles local president, now head of the LA County labor council, Maria Elena Durazo.  

But that’s not all, he’s got a smathering of support from local Latino leaders, including Assemblyman Joe Coto, chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus, as well as Rep. Linda Sanchez, who split from her sister, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Clinton backer.

Clinton who is polling overwhelmingly strong support from California Latinos has a support base of spanish-speaking heavy hitters which include Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, French wine loving State Speaker Fabian Nunez, and co-founder of the United Farmworkers, Dolores Huerta.

Clinton recently opened a campaign office in East LA, but has strayed far away from the issue since inarticulately explaining her position last fall when licensing was on the table in New York.

I think I’m inching closer to determining whom I will vote for.