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Tancredo ready to make White House run official

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 30, 2007 at midnight

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Rep. Tom Tancredo will use Iowa talk radio on Monday to announce his plans for the 2008 presidential race, and all indications are that he's moving full-steam ahead on a longshot White House bid.

Tancredo's "For A Secure America" exploratory committee surpassed the $1 million mark in fundraising last week, and he said that made it "certainly more likely" he would go forward with a full-fledged candidacy.

The official word is expected to come at 8 a.m. MST Monday, when Tancredo appears on the "Mickelson in the Morning" talk show on AM radio station 1040 WHO in DesMoines. Tancredo already is in Iowa in anticipation of that appearance.

Even Tancredo considers himself a longshot in a GOP field that includes former New York Gov. Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others. At this early stage, fundraising is a big part of the competition, and the front-runners are expected to report raising tens of millions of dollars through the first quarter of the year.

In an interview last week, Tancredo said he knows he faces an uphill battle, but he took heart in the large number of small donations from supporters of his outspoken, often-controversial crusade on border control and other issues.

"It's amazing to me," Tancredo said last week. "I know we're going to be a long way from the war chests that are out there. On the other hand, I feel like I've got more people that are committed to me and the ideas I represent than a lot of these other guys."

Last week, the campaign also announced that veteran conservative activist Bay Buchanan, a longtime Tancredo ally, would lead his presidential effort.

Even if he announces a run for the White House, Tancredo might leave the fate of his 6th Congressional District seat up in the air. He said last week he had not decided whether he would run for re-election to Congress if he does not win the presidential nomination.

"Ask me after Super Tuesday," Tancredo joked, referring to Feb. 5, 2008, when dozens of states are expected to hold early presidential primaries or caucuses.