One of the Stupidest Campaign Ideas Ever

Today I saw a commercial for John Raese the republican candidate for senate from West Virginia. His brilliant idea to fix the country is to require Visa expiration dates on all immigrant drivers licenses so that police could easily see who is in the country legally, and who isn't.

This is the STUPIDEST idea I have ever heard. First of all, the only thing this would do is create another barrier for immigrants who are here legally and make every effort to follow the dozens for US immigration laws. People who get a license already have to provide their visa information, but now they will all have to go back in and prove it again. Thousands of immigrants, all lined up at the DMV, taking time off work, to get a newly printed license. Not to mention the fact that the government will have to pay for all those reprinted licenses. But what about those people who overstay, you ask? Well, you can't get a license on a visitors visa. Most people who come here for legitimate long term reasons (students, scholars, etc.) are not the ones who overstay their visas. Their visas are closely monitored by their visa granting institutions (universities, research institutions). The people who "overstay" are the people who get a two week visitor's visa and don't leave. They aren't going to be able to get a drivers license with that anyway. And the vast majority of illegal immigrants have fake identities. Again, this whole visa expiration date thing isn't going to help any of that.

And the worse part is, he tries to make it sound like it makes complete sense. His whole campaign is about "bringing West Virginia common sense to DC." I know that West Virginia has a bad wrap, as a state full of inbred, stupid people. It's one thing when people from outside make fun of the state and it's residence. It's completely another thing when someone purporting to represent them, obviously thinks they are all stupid. It's a good think they aren't all as dumb as he thinks.