The stumbling and ducking and dodging accompanying the Democratic presidential candidates’ attempts to deal with the question of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants a couple of debates ago hinted at a real problem one of them is likely to face in next year’s general election campaign.

Over the course of the last few years, Democrats have enjoyed the luxury of sitting back while Republicans were forced to deal with the increasingly volatile immigration issue. The Tom Tancredos and John McCains each had their supporters, but no one, including an increasingly exasperated George Bush, was able to come up with an answer to the concerns of both sides that had a ghost of a chance of passing public muster. Before immigration reform was taken off the table, Republicans were at each other’s throats and hoping the issue might just go away.  Full Piece