Posted on 06/24/2007 9:44:48 AM PDT by SittinYonder
LITTLETON – U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., walked the streets of Littleton yesterday morning, and then led a town meeting-style gathering of about 50 people at the United Methodist Church on Main Street.
The congressman, who wants to run for President in 2008, noted that there was about 30 degrees difference between New Hampshire's Littleton, and his hometown of Littleton, Colo., that day.
"I noticed as I was about to cross the street, the 'stop, look, and wave' on the road, and thought, 'What a great place for a politician!' Then a young motorist stopped and decided to tell me the 'real' problems of today. He told me, 'There are too many cops and not enough lawyers,'" he laughed.
A diehard conservative, Tancredo said, with tongue in cheek, that as a candidate, others may be taller or have better hair. "Look at Mitt Romney! He's straight out of central casting!"
But Tancredo is running with a consistent conservative record, is driven by issues, and has his own agenda. "That which governs best, governs least," he said of his desire to reduce government involvement. "If you don't believe in eternal life," he said, "look at government programs!"
Tancredo has been a member of the U.S. Congress for almost 10 years, and has earned a reputation as a solid pro-life, pro-gun, small government Republican, and is a leader for immigration reform.
That issue is the one, perhaps, for which Mr. Tancredo is best known. "It's an issue that touches our entire lives. Illegal immigration impacts everything, from our educational institutions, to our medical system." He said, "I'm running for President to win back our sovereignty, our identity, and our destiny.
"As President, I'll secure our borders, deport illegal aliens, and prosecute the companies who hire them. And I'll veto any bill that grants amnesty to illegal immigrants."
He also wants to encourage assimilation of legal immigrants while limited immigration to 250,000 a year. Tancredo considers that illegal aliens take jobs offered by "greed-driven" business owners that could go to Americans.
"There is also a great cost to our culture. We need something to hold us together, and the English language is our glue. All the people of the different cultures that make up our country learned English, and I don't believe we should become a bilingual country. We shouldn't have bilingual ballots either. People who want to stay here need to learn English."
"Illegal immigration is the most serious political issue we have today. We need to have a common defense perimeter," he said.
The congressman supports a 2,000 miles border fence to present a barrier. "This is not an issue of race, but a culture and language issue."
We are in a clash of civilizations, and we need to know who our enemies are. In the 'cult of multiculturalism,' we are the last best hope of western civilization. If we don't make it, the lights go out." After an hour of speaking, the congressman opened the floor to questions.
About Iraq: "We created an embryonic democracy, that the people of Iraq must build upon. We need to make the President's November benchmark for shifting control' an actual timetable for disengagement. We must also maintain a regional quick response force with a mission to destroy al-Qaida."
Stem cell research: "We can now accomplish the same goals without destroying life through cord blood and other methods. I am 100 percent pro-life."
Civil unions. "Government doesn't have any role in caring about who you care about, but it does have the right to declare the sanctity of the institution of marriage. Marriage is an institution for procreation, and for a stable environment in which to raise children."
Global warming: "Research is not conclusive on either side of the issue. Is it natural? Most evidence does not substantiate that it comes from human activity, but we do need to move away from petroleum based products for security reasons. We're giving billions of dollars to nations who are figuring out ways to kill us! I believe that nuclear energy is the answer, and we need to move quickly to reduce carbons in our atmosphere. Storage has been an ongoing problem, but new technology is working towards a solution."
"That which governs best, governs least," he said of his desire to reduce government involvement. "If you don't believe in eternal life," he said, "look at government programs!"
The reason I support Tom Tancredo is that he is one of the few candidates who talks seriously about reducing the size and scope of the federal government. It's part of his policy agenda. If we're going to turn the tide of leftism in this nation, we need to support the candidates who will seek to do that ... rather than those who will "slow the rate of growth."
The federal government doesn't need status quo, it needs reform.
On being a ‘single issue candidate’:
“Now if you want call me a single issue candidate, that’s fine.
Just so long as you know that my single issue is the survival and the success of the conservative movement in America.
Click for more on Tancredo on the issues.
FREEPMAIL ME TO BE ADDED TO THIS TANCREDO ’08 PING LIST
he still seems to me to be the best for solving the illegal immigrant problem.
I like Tancredo also. Obviously, it was his work on the illegal immigration issue that first brought him to my attention in 2002 or 2003. I thought his was an important voice on that issue, but I thought little else about him - even when I heard he was considering running for president.
But as the field of candidates started to form - including Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich - I spent time looking at all of their records, all of their positions and all of their plans. Of course, Thompson and Newt have offered little in the way of a vision of what their presidency would look like in terms of a policy agenda, but they both have records to look at.
In the end, I decided that Tancredo was the only one other than Ron Paul and possibly Duncan Hunter who was seriously talking about limiting the federal government and turning it back toward the small animal it was intended to be. I was pleased to see that illegal immigration is not the only issue where Tancredo has been his own man and not just another Republican vote - he voted against No Child Left Behind, McCain-Feingold and the president's prescription drug fiasco.
In the end, Tancredo is the candidate I most relate to on the issues, and so on principle he's the one I will support in the primary.
A Colorado bump for Tom Tancredo!
A California bump for Tancredo.
Rudy Giuliani 27%
Fred Thompson 19%
John McCain 15%
Mitt Romney 12%
Mike Huckabee 4%
Tommy Thompson 2%
Sam Brownback 2%
Michael Bloomberg 2%
Ron Paul 2%
Tom Tancredo 1%
Jim Gilmore -
Duncan Hunter -
Other 1%
None/No preference 5%
Unsure 8%
Princeton Survey Research Associates International. June 20-21, 2007.
Those are the three Americans in the race. I don't know whether Thompson is an American or a Globalbist. If I had to vote today, I'd vote for Tancredo.
Exactly.
The media is placing Tom in a box-—a one issue candidate.
While Tom’s position on immigration is well known, he hasn’t done much to enhance what his position is on other issues. Not Tom’s fault by the way, but because of his strong stance on illegal immigration, most media types only want to raise this one issue in hopes of trapping him or making him say something controversial.
Tom would benefit if he would clearly state how he is different from Guiliani and Romney, on only on immigration but on other issues,like Iraq. Tom could pound McCain all day on immigration, but McCain has flamed out and is going nowhere fast. Thank God for that!
Based on what I'm reading in stories about his speeches, etc., I think Tancredo on the campaign trail is doing this.
But with the Senate pushing amnesty and the president behind it, he is essentially on two campaign trails - one to fight amnesty, one to run for president. And, as you said, the media is only interested in hearing him talk about the illegal immigration issue.
Well said. The media smells anti-socialist/real conservative on Tancredo and will never cut him a break for it. When he speaks the truth they’re left so agog (or so left they’re agog) that they consistently screw up what he told them.
BTTT
Why is Bloomberg in that early worthless poll?
Kerry had 4% in DECEMBER of 2003, about a month before Iowa. So a June poll is so meaningless, you’d have to be a real retard to post as if it really meant anything.
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