Smells like … victory.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to abandon a plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, officials familiar with the decision told The Associated Press Tuesday night…

The governor’s office signaled to New York lawmakers Tuesday that Spitzer will say at the meeting that he is shelving the plan and that immigration is a federal issue to be handled by Washington, according to congressional aides who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.

Last month, Spitzer sought to salvage the license effort by striking a deal with the Department of Homeland Security to create three distinct types of state driver’s licenses: one “enhanced” that will be as secure as a passport; a second-tier license good for boarding airplanes; and a third marked not valid for federal purposes that would be available to illegal immigrants and others…

About 70 percent of New Yorkers oppose the license plan, according to a Siena College poll of 625 registered state voters released Tuesday. The poll, conducted Nov. 5-8, had a sampling margin of 3.9 percentage points.

70 percent in a state bluer than the oceans. I can’t wait to see what this chastening does to the Democrats’ plank on amnesty during the campaign. Thanks, Spitz!

I feel the sudden urge to tango. Join me.

Update: Beset on all sides: “[H]e came to believe the proposal would ultimately be blocked, he said, either by legal challenges, a vote by the Legislature to deny funding for the Department of Motor Vehicles or a refusal by upstate county clerks to carry it.”

Update: I concur with commenter Number 2. This calls for a cameo appearance by His Majesty.

Update (Bryan): If it weren’t already dead, this kills off Bill Richardson’s chances of winning the Dem nomination. As governor of New Mexico, he signed a law that allows illegals to obtain drivers licenses.

Update: Fools rush in where New Yorkers fear to tread.