Tancredo out, backs Mitt

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 12:30 a.m., December 20, 2007
Updated 03:17 p.m., December 20, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa - Rep. Tom Tancredo officially bowed out of the race for the White House today, declaring a moral victory despite never escaping the bottom rungs of the polls.

At an afternoon news conference in Des Moines, the Colorado congressman also endorsed Mitt Romney, saying he was satisfied the former Massachusetts governor is well-suited to drive many of the same immigration reforms that Tancredo has been pushing on the campaign trail.

Tancredo called Romney "the best hope for our cause."

He also said worried if he stayed in the race that someone who is wrong on immigration — namely former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — could benefit.

"I don't want to do anything that would aid them," he said of Huckabee, while also mentioning Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Tancredo did not say anything about his immediate plans. He's long left the door open to a possible Senate run in 2010.

He told reporters he felt he had accomplished his goal: forcing other presidential contenders to take his tougher line opposing illegal immigration.

It's unclear how much weight a Tancredo endorsement might have with just two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

In Iowa, Tancredo got between 2 percent and 6 percent in the most recent polls, and his supporters and campaign volunteers appeared to be split among various camps.

Since the beginning of his flirtation with the contest, Tancredo has said his goal was to move the immigration debate toward his hard-line, often bombastic opposition to illegal immigration and "amnesty," and his call for securing the U.S. borders.

As he told the Rocky Mountain News during a scouting trip to Iowa in mid-2005: "A lot of people think my politics are crazy, but I'm not delusional. I don't think I'm going to be president of the United States."

He was less definitive on that point since he announced his candidacy on Iowa talk radio earlier this year. But his chances never got much better after several other Republicans began matching his tough tone on immigration and Tancredo was relegated to the far edges of the stages during televised presidential debates.

Tancredo often accused his rivals of trying to "out-Tancredo Tancredo," although some analysts said they were also trying to match a growing anti-illegal immigration sentiment on talk radio, at public meetings in Iowa and on CNN's Lou Dobbs program.

"Tancredo gave voice to a burbling reservoir of anxiety and can fairly be said to have the most effect, policy-wise, of any presidential candidate," journalist Marc Ambinder of TheAtlantic.com wrote on his blog this morning. "Politically, too, some Republicans believe that Tancredo-style immigration politics may have irreparably damaged the GOP's efforts to incorporate Hispanics into their coalition."

"Tom Tancredo," Ambinder wrote, "is an outsize figure in our politics."

There was widespread speculation about which candidate Tancredo might endorse. He had expressed serious doubts about every mainstream Republican's position on the immigration question. And in recent weeks, after his rivals all appeared at a televised, Spanish-language debate, his campaign released a mocking videotape portraying them in sombreros, riding in the back of pickup trucks with dark-skinned farm-workers or even attending a "presidential cockfights."

Throughout his campaign, Tancredo denied charges that his movement was racist or xenophobic.

In the waning weeks, when he was stuck near the bottom of the polls, his campaign flooded the airwaves with controversial advertisements warning about the dangers of open borders. One ad warned that terrorists were in the United States because of politicians' failure to secure the borders, and it ended with a bomb blast inside a shopping mall. Another showed photographs of dead bodies lined up, and blamed illegal immigrants for a rise in gang violence.

Political observers dismissed the ads as desperate fear-mongering, but Tancredo was unapologetic in his standard disclaimers: "Hi, I'm Tom Tancredo and I approve this message because someone needs to say it."

The ads drew attention - and counterattacks from critics. But they couldn't help Tancredo overcome his biggest problem in the presidential contest.

He fought anonymity throughout his campaign. He was hardly a celebrity, and although he raised some money, it wasn't enough to match the bankrolls of some top tier contenders. So, even after all the televised debates, he still traveled the campaign trail in relative obscurity, got blank stares when he met some people - even some who supported his message.

And as his campaign wound down, he sometimes faced "crowds" as small as just a few people. Meanwhile, he often complained about the arduous travel schedule, which forced him to shuttle back and forth among Washington, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and his home in Colorado.

• December 20, 2007

  11:09 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dude writes:

  FIRST!!!!

• December 20, 2007

  2:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Diff writes:

  Very glag old big mouth, blunder bus TT has been 'defeated'!
  Guess his near white supermist and anti chicano views are not as popular as he would have everyone believe.
  Very unhappy to hear he might consider a run for the Colorado Senate seat. In fact the thought of TT being a Senator and running off his mouth in Washington on behave of Colorado at that level - sickens me!
  Tom, please just go away!

  BTW:I will be very active to help what ever democrat that might run against him in that senate race

• December 20, 2007

  8:49 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  truth_teller writes:

  With all of the major Republican players backing Romney, it is a virtual certainty that he will lose. With Owens and Allard and Bensen and Brown and now Tancredo backing Romney, Romney is the next one to go up in flames. I have a suggestion, why doen't Tom Tancredo go back to Washington and be a Congressman. Pass some legislation that deals with the problem of illegal immigration, like the voters have asked him to do since last century. It would be helpful if just one Republican from Colorado took the job of representing Colorado seriously. It would be great to have a newspaper write about legislative accomplishments and policy and not a bunch of political figures going nowhere like Tancredo and Romney and Schaffer. Ronald Reagan would turn over in his grave if he saw this sorry group in Colorado that call themselves Republicans.

• December 20, 2007

  10:10 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  truth_teller writes:

  Tom Tancredo endorsed Governor Romney? On immigration, Governor Romney had illegal aliens employed at his home.
  Massachusetts police under Governor Romney never enforced immigration laws.
  Governor Romney took no action against four Massachusetts sanctuary cities
  Romney proposed Z visa to allow illegal aliens to stay in America. Romney said Z-visa is not technically amnesty; but is in fact amnesty.
  Governor Romney now says he supports the Second Amendment rights but he previously said he also supported the assault weapon ban.
  Governor Romney said he supported assault weapons ban and Brady Bill.
  Governor Romney said he would be delighted to sign federal ban on all abortions. Governor Romney said he would welcome overturning Roe v. Wade.
  Governor Romney supports Tom Tancredo 50 percent of the time. Governor Romney supports Hillary Clinton 50 percent of the time. Maybe he’ll get 100 percent of the vote. Not.