Tim Pawlenty’s support of the

Tim Pawlenty’s support of the requirement that visa holders have their visa expiration dates printed on their drivers’ licenses was a powerful issue for him in the Minnesota gubernatorial campaign. Both the Democratic candidate and the Independence Party candidate opposed it, as they both supported tax increases to resolve Minnesota’s current budget problems. Tim’s principled stands on these issues propelled him to victory against his two better-known rivals.
Joe Soucheray, a savyy St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist and radio talk show host, has an excellent piece in this morning’s paper supporting the requirement: “Rights sometimes require playing by the rules.” He expresses a biting impatience with those who protest having their photograph taken for the driver’s license on religious grounds: “If I have to carry around a photograph on my license that makes me look like Nick Nolte after a three-day bender you can ask your maker for forgiveness for one lousy snapshot.”