Tag: Tom Tancredo

Bump and Update: Tancredo's out of the race and gives his support to Mitt Romney.

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Tom Tancredo Might Withdraw from Presidential Race

Update: Not so fast. His wife says he's first going to meet with other Republican candidates and will withdraw only if he can support one of them on immigration.

Jackie Tancredo said the situation has “changed hourly,” and on Wednesday night there still was a “slim” chance that her husband would continue his uphill battle, which now finds him near the bottom of the polls in Iowa and nationally.

Tancredo confirms an announcement is coming and says he wouldn't hold a presser without something important to say. Will it be just a withdrawal or a withdrawal and declaration of support for another candidate? Or, is it a stunt where he says he's staying in because all the other Republican candidates are too soft on immigration? Tomorrow, by the way, Tancredo turns 62.

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Flailing presidential candidate Tom Tancredo met his match at a debate in New Hampshire this weekend.

Tancredo was pitching his "English only" plan, denigrating not just the U.S. but Europe.

Describing the United States as "the last best hope" for carrying on the ideals of western civilization, Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo called last night for an end to the nation's "bilingualization" and "Balkanization."

"I think Europe can not be counted on to help us in this endeavor," Tancredo said last night at Magdalen College in Warner. "They've already become, to a large extent, Islamicized. And that is worrisome."

Several audience members challenged him, including Siham Elhamoum, a recent college grad from Vermont [More....]

Colorado Rep. and Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo had only $110,000 in the bank at the end of the last reporting period. I think he's ready for his final bow and wants to go out with a bang.

The Denver Post reports on his new ad, which critics aptly call "fear mongering." It features a terrorist attack in a shopping mall.

The Tancredo ad begins with the image of a gloved hand jamming a bomb into a backpack, then follows a hooded figure, whose face cannot be seen, strolling through a mall as a narrator decries "20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs" and "Islamic terrorists (who) now freely roam U.S. soil." Images of bombed-out trains and a bloodied boy follow, then pictures of shoppers and a woman pushing a baby carriage through an airy mall. As the hooded figure leaves the backpack beside a bench and walks away, the narrator announces — "The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill" — just before the explosion sounds.

I've been waiting to write about Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo's retirement announcement until my post went up at 5280. It's there now, as is Jason Bane's about who may succeed him.

My take (and yes, it's a pretty gracious one for me, considering how off-the-wall I think he is on immigration):

It sounds like he’s tired and needs to regroup and refocus. It’s understandable. He’s been running on a shoe-string budget. He doesn’t fly on chartered jets and he doesn’t stay in luxury hotels like his competitor, Rudy Giuliani.

I may not agree with his politics but it’s hard not to credit the passion and stamina he’s shown to date. All in all, I think he’s made a wise decision for him and for Colorado.

I'm actually kind of sad we won't have him to kick around any more.

Via Think Progress:

Democrats were planning to hold a press conference today featuring three college students whose parents came to the United States illegally in order to promote the DREAM Act. But the event was postponed after anti-immigrant Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) called on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to arrest the three students:

“I call on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain any illegal aliens at this press conference,” said Tancredo, who claims to have alerted federal authorities about the well publicized press confrence. “Just because these illegal aliens are being used for political gain doesn’t mean they get immunity from the law. If we can’t enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?”

The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act would allow undocumented students to become permanent citizens after several years provided they complete two years of college, trade school or military service. Details of the bill are here (pdf). The requirements are below:

Tom Tancredo didn't do too well in the fundraising department this quarter. His contributions totaled 764,188.87. His operating expenses were 1,192,933.01. In his home state of Colorado, he raised only 47,274.00.

Maybe that's why he's getting this desperate:

Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo wants foreigners seeking visas to join relatives in the U.S. to provide DNA samples to prove their family ties.

The Colorado congressman introduced a bill Tuesday in the House to require the tests, saying documents provided by immigrants to show they are related to U.S. citizens or permanent residents are sometimes sketchy and unreliable.

I thought Republicans were supposed to be the party offering less bureaucracy. I guess not if it makes a good soundbite or you're losing.

I got to meet Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo tonight. We had our makeup done together. He was on CNN and I was on after him on MSNBC.

We chatted very amiably for over a half hour. I told him I thought he looked very good (posture and clothes) in the Republican debates, and although I've never agreed with anything he's ever said, I think it's pretty cool he's taken his quest for the Republican nomination as far as he has.

I did try to ask him some serious questions. Does he read blogs? Never. His campaign had a blogger who was terrific but he went back to college. He gets news clips with articles about himself every day. He knows bloggers write negative things about him and he has no interest in reading them.

Does he have a favorite for the Republican nomination if he's not the candidate? No.

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Tom Tancredo is in need of an attention fix for his fledgling Presidential campaign that while never getting off the ground still took a nose-dive when immigration reform fell off the table.

His latest is to introduce a bill that he knows will not pass but hopes will push emotional buttons back into overdrive.

Everybody knows that if you are born in this country, you automatically are a U.S. citizen. Under Tancredo's bill, a baby born to undocumented residents would be stripped of citizenship.

Tancredo's legal foundation for this is his unique view of the 14th Amendment. How unique?

Tancredo doesn't have any co-sponsors for his bill. Asked what support he expected, Tancredo, standing alone on a podium, looked to the right and the left and noted the absence of fellow lawmakers.

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Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo continues to ratchet up the immigration debate with ridiculous hyperboles. His latest, in Arizona yesterday:

Presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo told supporters gathered at a private ranch here Friday that American culture, as well as the fate of western civilization, is being threatened by illegal immigration.

....“There’s an issue that is so much broader than all that, so much more serious. It is the issue of our culture itself, and whether we will survive.”

Then, he warned his audience that what happened at an elementary school in 2004 in Beslan, Russia, ("where Islamic terrorists from Chechnya killed more than 300 people") could happen here:

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Rep. Tom Tancredo will make it official Monday. He's running for President.

The Littleton congressman, who has had an exploratory committee, will tell radio host Jan Mickelson in Des Moines that he is formally joining the race for the Republican nomination, two sources close to the congressman said. Like other presidential candidates using alternative forums to break the news that they are seeking the Oval Office, Tancredo, the anti-illegal immigration stalwart, is choosing the medium that has given him a home for almost a decade. "We're looking at a day of announcements on talk radio," a source close to the campaign said. "That's where the conservative movement has made its mark. That's where our people get their news."

So, Tancredo supporters get their news from right-wing talk radio, not the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News, the New York Times or even conservative blogs. How myopic. Then again, so is his vision for America. Does he even have a position on issues other than immigration?

Bay Buchanan has agreed to serve as Tom Tancredo's chief advisor in his quest for the Republican 2008 nomination.

Tancredo, R-Colo., will announce within two weeks whether he's joining the Republican primary race. He said last week that his exploratory committee had raised $1 million, which he considered an important barometer of his viability.

"He is a hero to conservatives across this country, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be part of what promises to be an exciting campaign," Buchanan said about Tancredo in a statement.

It's hard to pay too much attention to this. Tancredo is, as the article suggests, the ultimate fringe candidate. He's a one trick pony, all about xenophobia.

But we can hope his candidacy will negatively impact the other Republican nomination seekers.

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, the one issue politician, is headed to Iowa to test the waters for a possible presidential run in 2008.

Tancredo, known for his outspoken criticism of illegal immigration, will meet with Iowa GOP leaders and grassroots activists to see how they would respond if he ran, Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa said.

....Tancredo views the trip as vital in his decision whether to run, Espinosa said. "A lot hinges on this — this weekend will determine a lot," Espinosa said.

He's also promoting his latest book. And in case you already didn't know this, John McCain also opposes a guest worker program. Just another strike against him in my book.

Last month Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo said Miami is like a third world country. Even Jeb Bush took him to task.

But Tancredo will visit Key Biscayne Thursday to give a talk. His topic: the need for immigrants to assimilate.

Why is he going? How about attention:

Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa...said Tancredo wasn't worried about whatever reception he will get in the Miami area.....ny protests or controversy will only draw more attention to the event, he said.

"It's always entertaining. It'll add to the flair of Miami," Espinosa said. "I really do hope we get some protesters. Otherwise, what else are we going for?"