Time is a valuable resource in politics, and by all indications New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is learning very quickly that it's in her best interest to downplay the anti-immigration policies she supported as a member of the House of Representatives.
After all, just a short time ago she was boasting to her upstate constituents that she opposed "driver's licenses for illegal aliens," and believed herself to be "a firm opponent of any proposal that would give amnesty to illegal aliens." But by April she had dramatically changed her tune and told the New York Daily News she was "committed to working with the Obama administration to pursue comprehensive reform that treats immigrants fairly and gives them a path to earned citizenship."
That's only the tip of the ice berg. In January she hired political consulting firm The Mirram Group to assist in a public relations makeover amid criticisms from Latinos and other groups who could not so easily forget Gillibrand's sordid history on the issue of immigration reform.
Since then Gillibrand has been eager to change track on the issue. First she announced that she would co-sponsor the DREAM Act, legislation that would would give undocumented high school students in the United States a legal avenue to attend college and eventually become citizens. Then she joined her New York colleague Charles Schumer in the Senate to grant posthumous citizenship to those would-be citizens who were killed in the American Civic Center shootings in Binghamton, N.Y. Heck, she even had her staff members spit out a quick and generic press release extolling Mexican heritage and Cinco de Mayo.
Most recently Gillibrand was quick to point out that she made a direct appeal to President Obama
"recommending Judge Sotomayor to serve as first ever Latino to the Supreme Court" when she penned a letter to the White House " to bring your attention to the shortage of representation of Latinos in the Federal Judiciary" and legal community.
While these certainly could be desperate attempts to appeal to the Latino community in order to halt possible primary challengers, time will soon tell if Gillibrand can actually stand behind what she's been saying and vote for solutions to fix our broken immigration system and offer citizenship to the millions of undocumented people who are already here. If she can deliver votes when it matters most for the inevitable comprehensive immigration reform debate in the Senate, then, maybe then, Gillibrand can redeem herself.
What do you think?
(Cross-posted at Gabacha)