Once every candidate started to sound as over-the-top crazy on immigration as he has, Tom Tancredo decided that there was no longer any need for him, and tomorrow he’ll drop out of the race.

But it should give pause to these Republicans who think smugly that a fierce anti-immigrant line will lead them to victory in November, that Tancredo never got out of the blocks. If his message is so important, and he’s so pure on what is considered the signature issue, how come he never had a chance? How come his message was so easily co-opted by candidates who are riddled with differing positions on immigration in the past? Maybe these so-called smart Republicans are only talking to themselves on this issue.

Tom Tancredo | 1 Comment »

So one of the great things about being an anti-immigrant xenophobe in a nation of immigrants is that you get to point to great things done by Americans born in other nations and take credit for them, and blame immigrants for all the bad things they may or may not be responsible for.

Consider Duncan Hunter in yesterday’s Republican debate in Iowa when he was asked to outline his education policy:

REP. HUNTER: Three words: Jaime Escalante and inspiration. Jaime Escalante was a great math teacher who in the barrio of Los Angeles taught young kids calculus, and he taught them so well that the school district called up and said, “We got a problem. We think your kids are cheating on the tests.” And he said, “Test them again.” And he established this incredible system of calculus in the school district by inspiring young people.

How many of us have — have our careers — can — can point back to a teacher and say, “That teacher inspired me”? What we have to do is take away the bureaucratic credentialing of teachers and allow people who are aerospace engineers and — and pilots and scientists and retired folks to come in and inspire young people in third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Let — let’s inspire them to reach for the stars and give them the incentive to work hard enough to get there — inspiration, changing the credentialing system, and school choice.

MS. WASHBURN: Hasn’t that teacher since left the public school system?

REP. HUNTER: And you know why? I read the — the — the post- mortem on Jaime Escalante is that the unions ran him out of the school district, and I think that goes right to one of the — one of the big problems that we have.

You’ve got to hand it to Hunter for getting the shot in at the teachers’ unions. But when you consider where Border Wall Hunter stands on immigration, there are some inconvenient facts that we might want to consider when he holds up Dr. Escalante as an inspirational example to sketch out his education policy:

• Dr. Escalante did not speak English when he came to the United States from Bolivia by way of Puerto Rico looking for work
• Dr. Escalante took a job with an electronics company that an American citizen probably could have performed
• 99% of the students at Garfield High where Dr. Escalante’s inspirational story began are of Latino origin, and while the LA Unified School District doesn’t report on this, I bet you a whole lot of them did not immigrate to this country legally

None of that is skin off my back, but in an America led by Duncan Hunter, or any of the other hotheads who are trying to “out Tancredo Tancredo,” I suspect that you’d see fewer Jaime Escalantes. Men of his mettle, because they would face more barriers to entry in our country, would not be able to reach out to and educate hundreds of thousands of Latino students who are studying in poor schools because we want to keep them and their families part of our underground economy.

Presidential Debates, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo | 3 Comments »

Now we know why Tancredo seems so, well, crazy. It’s because he likely is.

Last year, it was reported that in 1970, after Tancredo’s student deferments ran out, he appealed his 1-A draft status, which would have put him at the top of the list for draft eligibility during the Vietnam War.

Tancredo said he didn’t remember it that way. But he said he was given a 1-Y status, which put him at the bottom of the list, when he reported that he had been treated for mental illness as a teenager.

Tancredo said he was diagnosed with depression when he was 16 or 17 and received medication for five years for panic attacks and bouts of anxiety and depression.

It’s all so clear now.

Turns out Tancredo voted against increasing mental health services for returning veterans. He was one of only 39 Representatives to do so.

Maybe he thinks they should have gotten a cushy way out of the war in the first place like he did?

Tom Tancredo | No Comments »

Despite failure at the polls in 2006 and 2007, the Republicans think they have a magic bullet headed into the next election year with the issue of immigration. If they can only demagogue the issue enough, the theory goes, they can tap into nativist fears of a brown horde sweeping across the nation and eke out a victory. It doesn’t matter to them that immigrants actually underuse the health care system instead of “stealing health care” away from real Muricans, or that children of immigrants actually grow fluent in English in the second generation, because they understand that learning the language is the key to economic success. They would rather demonize the other, despite the historical blunder of alienating the record numbers of immigrants entering the country (One in eight people living in this country is an immigrant, the highest percentage since the 1920s).
(more…)

Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, John McCain, Mitt Romney | No Comments »

I’m not always comfortable with publishing polls because they’re a snapshot. But we’re only a month-plus out of New Hampshire, and the trends of this CNN poll show that the media simply needs to start running a new story about the Republican race. Because Mitt Romney is solidly in the lead right now.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has skidded into sixth place in a new CNN/WMUR poll of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire, edged out by ex-Libertarian and anti-war congressman Ron Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney topped the poll, widening a lead he has held for months in neighboring New Hampshire, while Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were running close in the second and third spots.

Thompson … has trailed the GOP front-runners in early voting states since entering the race in August, and his support in New Hampshire dropped from 13 percent in a September poll to 4 percent in November’s survey.

By contrast, Romney’s support grew from 25 percent to 33 percent over the same period; McCain held steady at 18 percent; and Giuliani dipped from 24 to 16 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of support for Paul grew from 4 percent to 8 percent, putting him fourth among the GOP contenders in the Granite State […]

Among other contenders, Huckabee — seen gaining ground ahead of the Iowa caucuses — claimed 5 percent support in the new poll. Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who has made opposition to illegal immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, drew 1 percent; and California Rep. Duncan Hunter, the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had the support of fewer than half of 1 percent.

Romney is now well beyond the margin of error in New Hampshire, and 9iu11iani, who’s trying to make a strong showing UP TO THIRD in Iowa, is looking at the same placement in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Ron Paul is surging and will probably spend as much money in that state as anyone else. And Fred Thompson no longer exists.

All I’m saying is that it might be time to rewrite those stories. If all you’re going to do is focus on the horse race, the least you can do is get it right.

New Hampshire, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, Mitt Romney | 5 Comments »

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton, Colo.) fuses together Lyndon Johnson’s infamous fear-mongering “Daisy” ad with his rabid disdain for immigrants to come up with this television commercial.

The version posted to YouTube is in poor quality with the audio out of sync with the video.

Here’s LBJ’s infamous “Daisy” ad from 1964:

Tom Tancredo | 2 Comments »

From TIME Magazine:

After a debate in New Hampshire, one of [Tom Tancredo’s] staffers walked up to a guy in a shark costume and asked him if he was a Ron Paul supporter. “No. They’re all nuts,” replied the shark. “I’m just a guy in a shark suit.”

(Hat tip: Mathew Gross, Deride and Conquer)

Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo | 1 Comment »

The new Washington Post poll echoes the recent Newsweek survey in that it shows Rudy Giuliani maintaining his position at the front of the Republican pack. But the Post sounds unconvinced, calling the GOP race the “most open in decades”:

Former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani maintains a double-digit lead over his main rivals, but most of his supporters [55%] back his candidacy only “somewhat,” and he has yet to gain momentum among key primary voting groups or to distinguish himself as the best candidate for the party. Adding to the murkiness of the picture is that Republicans continue to be less satisfied with their candidate options than Democrats are with theirs.

The poll also finds McCain surging, while Thompson treads water and Huckabee remains stuck between the first and second tiers:

Rudy Giuliani 33
John McCain 19
Fred Thompson 16
Mitt Romney 11
Mike Huckabee 9
Ron Paul 3
Duncan Hunter 2
Tom Tancredo 1

Also interesting is the confusion among GOP voters as to just who represents their party’s “core values.” 25% percent pick Giuliani, 24% McCain, 29% choose Thompson, and 17% say Romney. To some extent this may be because there’s a good deal of confusion these days over exactly what those values are, but it probably also has to do with the candidates’ failure to take much leadership in sorting such questions out. Everybody wants to be as conservative as possible for the primary, even to the point of berating the GOP for not having been conservative enough during its recent reign of error, but the elephant in the room is that conservatism itself is in crisis.

Polling, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, Mitt Romney | 3 Comments »

In the Boston Globe blog, Political Intelligence, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton, Colo.) wagered his presidential bid against that of former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) in a not-so-friendly World Series bet.

Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo wants to put something important on the line — his candidacy. His campaign called ABC News to issue this challenge: The Colorado congressman will drop out of the race if the Rockies lose the World Series — if rival Mitt Romney agrees to pack it in if the Red Sox lose.

That’s like wagering your Vespa against someone’s Corvette. Plus, Tancredo’s team, the Colorado Rockies, got their heads handed to them last night, 13-1, by the Boston Red Sox in Game 1. Makes you think Tancredo is trying to lose the bet.

Tom Tancredo, Mitt Romney | 1 Comment »

All of the Democratic candidates have had something to say about the wildfires raging through Southern California. Gov. Richardson, Sen. Dodd, and Sen. Edwards in particular have offered both statements and resources for those suffering in my state this week.

How are the Republicans handling this, you ask? In case you were wondering:

Rudy Giuliani: Nothing.
John McCain: Nothing.
Mitt Romney: Nothing.
Fred Thompson: Nothing.
Mike Huckabee: Nothing. A 30-minute interview with Glenn Beck on his front page, too, Beck is the guy who claimed that some of the people who lost their homes hate America.
Duncan Hunter: It’s his frickin’ district and it’s hard to find anything outside of this news article.
Tom Tancredo: Nothing.
Ron Paul: Nothing. And he’s doing a “Hollywood fundraiser” tonight.

They just don’t care. Which is really puzzling, considering that California is an early state. Plus, most of the fires are in Republican-leaning areas, like Orange County and the outer communities around San Diego.

But you would have to have the ability to feel compassion to actually offer it.

Ron Paul, California, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, Mitt Romney | 7 Comments »