Free Republic

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. WASHINGTON – Two years ago, he was as lonely as the Maytag repairman – an obscure congressman trying desperately to raise the visibility of an issue he believed threatened the very security of the U.S. More recently, he has become a force to be reckoned with, the leader of a powerful House caucus, a Republican who has taken on the president, a man respected for outspoken positions and the political force behind what has become the hottest issue in the nation. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and the undisputed...

WASHINGTON -- A Colorado congressman is asking the Interior Department to reconsider the crescent-shaped design of the memorial to those aboard a plane hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, because some may think it honors the terrorists. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., says the design, called "Crescent of Embrace," could invite "controversy and criticism." In a letter sent Tuesday to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, Tancredo said many have questioned the shape "because of the crescent's prominent use as a symbol in Islam — and the fact that the hijackers were radical Islamists." Flight 93 crashed into a field in southwestern...

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., dismissed the suggestion of prominent columnists to introduce a bill of impeachment against President Bush for lack of border enforcement, saying his immigration reform bill will do what is necessary to stem the flow of illegal aliens into the U.S. This week, WND columnists Patrick Buchanan and Joseph Farah called for legislation to begin the impeachment process due to, as Buchanan wrote, Bush's "conscious refusal to uphold his oath and defend the states of the Union against 'invasion.'" Wrote Farah: "President Bush has had nearly five years in office to honor his oath of office...

Presidential poll gives Colo. congressman 1% WASHINGTON - It's official: Rep. Tom Tancredo is a blip on the 2008 presidential radar. Tom Tancredo's name was misspelled on survey group's Web site. A new poll shows Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, pulling 1 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, home of the traditional first-in-the-nation presidential primary election. American Research Group Inc. surveyed 600 likely Republican primary voters - including 433 Republicans and 167 undeclared voters - from Aug. 5 to 7. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., led with 39 percent, followed by "undecided" at 32 percent. Among others: former House Speaker Newt...

CARLSBAD, Calif. - U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has spent much of the summer traveling the country to promote his message of immigration reform and to test the waters for a possible presidential bid in 2008. On Thursday evening, he attended a town hall-style forum in the northern San Diego County town of Carlsbad, where he poked fun at President Bush and derided plans for what he called "disguised amnesty" for the millions of people who have entered the United States illegally. "Let's just turn the ports of entry into toll booths," Tancredo said. "Here's my credit card. Here's your...

DELTA - Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, knows his efforts to stem illegal immigration are succeeding not because he's receiving support in Congress - it's the other way around. "For the first time in seven years, (my opponents) are trying to stop me instead of me trying to stop them," the outspoken representative told the Daily Press in an interview before his speech in Delta Monday night. "That's why I know we are winning." Tancredo spoke to more than 100 people at the Bill Heddles Recreation Center about the dangers of illegal immigration. The crowd was overwhelmingly supportive of Tancredo; people...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, known for his outspoken and sometimes outlandish views on immigration, will be in Utah later this month and agreed to debate his political rival, Rep. Chris Cannon. Cannon says he has more pressing engagements - working on the irrigation system at his home. Tancredo, a Colorado Republican and leading spokesman of the anti-immigration movement, was invited to the state by the group Utahns For Immigration Reform and Enforcement, or UFIRE, a group that battered Cannon over his immigration stance during his 2004 re-election bid. He agreed to spend Aug. 24 to 25 in the...

HANAHAN, S.C. - Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo told law enforcement officers that illegal immigrants are held to lower standards by the justice system than Americans. "An illegal alien actually has a different system of justice here," he said Tuesday in a speech to about 30 officers. "If you're here illegally, you can get a pass." Tancredo, from Colorado, has come under fire recently from some Hispanic groups for his calls for tougher immigration enforcement and a proposal to tax some of the money immigrants send outside U.S. borders. Hispanic and Islamic groups called for his resignation in a Denver protest...

They all hate us anyhow. So let's drop the big one now.Randy Newman Tom Tancredo is not a serious person. And yet, there are many people who take him seriously. You can see them scribbling those campaign checks every time Tancredo's lips move. Let's call it the Tancredo Paradox. He has a serious job. He discusses serious issues. But, in fact, he is about as serious as a carnival barker. You've heard him. You can't not have heard him. No matter what the topic, Tancredo always sounds like he wants you to hand him five bucks to duck inside the...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Rep. Tom Tancredo hoped to overcome his recent controversy and get back onto his immigration message today, when he brought his traveling road show to South Carolina. It's the third early presidential primary state Tancredo has visited this year, as he toys with the idea of a 2008 race. Tancredo was scheduled to speak today night before hundreds of members of the Fraternal Order of Police at a hall outside Charleston. He hopes to keep the topic to immigration reform, but he is still facing an international outcry over his recent comments suggesting the United States could...

By even suggesting that Mecca could be bombed in retaliation for a terrorist attack, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has made the world a more dangerous place. He is not alone, of course. Ironically, the Congressman has plenty of company among those who, either because of the evil they do or the stupid things they say, have endangered us all. Now before I am attacked for establishing a moral equivalence between terrorist bombers and unthinking macho politicos, let me be clear: I know the difference. The sick malevolence that led to 9/11 (US), 7/7 (UK), and 7/23 (Egypt) is dramatically and...

I often write columns criticizing President Bush for being a typical big-government, inside- the-Beltway politician. Every time I do, I get an e-mail from some bonehead who concludes that anyone criticizing George W. Bush must be a liberal Democrat. This is a common misconception and one that Tom Tancredo is straightening out quite nicely. Tancredo is the Colorado congressman who until last week was famous for being the leading advocate of enforcing immigration laws, thus earning a permanent place on the Bush enemies list. Last week he became famous for something else: Tancredo proposed that we inform the fundamentalist Muslims...

Tom Tancredo has been called a one-trick pony of a politician, a man out of step with his party, a bigot. The Republican congressman vehemently opposes illegal immigration, and he created an uproar last week when he talked about nuking Muslim holy sites."Unless I misread the political tea leaves, there is a great deal of support for what I say," Tancredo said.Experts say Tancredo has no chance at the White House, but like Ross Perot's campaign on a balanced budget in 1992, he has found an issue that could force other Republicans to treat immigration as a major issue.

No apology for discussing retaliation on Muslim holy sites Washington - Rep. Tom Tancredo refused Monday to back down from his statement Friday suggesting that the United States might respond to a radical Islamic terrorist attack by bombing Muslim holy sites. Muslim groups earlier Monday called on Tancredo to apologize and said they want to meet with the Colorado Republican. "I'm not suggesting we do it. I have nothing to apologize for in that respect," Tancredo said. "I'm simply saying to have a good discussion on this issue, a thorough discussion on what is perhaps the most serious kind of...

DENVER - Tom Tancredo has been called a one-trick pony of a politician, a man out of step with his party, a bigot. The Republican congressman vehemently opposes illegal immigration, and he created an uproar last week when he talked about nuking Muslim holy sites. No matter, Tancredo is pressing on and even hinting at a long-shot presidential bid in 2008. Tancredo has already visited New Hampshire and Iowa this year, and says he found a welcome audience among voters who are fed up with the nation's immigration policies, including proposals by President Bush. "Unless I misread the political tea...

'snip'.....Tancredo created a buzz of his own. He got enough standing ovations from hard-core conservative Iowa voters that it should worry any top-tier presidential hopefuls who thought they could get through 2008 without touching the immigration hot-button.Tancredo has visited New Hampshire and now Iowa, seeing how his hard line against illegal immigration plays in the two early presedential primary states. He's testing the waters for a possible presedential run of his own, but his real goal is to turn his pet issue into something akin to abortion in past campaigns - a big deal that nobody is allowed to ignore.Even...

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Rep. Tom Tancredo started barnstorming through eastern Iowa on Thursday, talking immigration to religious conservatives and stepping up his flirtation with the 2008 presidential race.The Littleton Republican arrived in Moline, Ill., then made the short drive across the Mississippi River into Davenport.Iowa is home to the first presedential caucuses in 2008, and Tancredo wants the big-name contenders to take up his crusade to stop illegal immigration."If you don't approach this thing as if you are completely serious, you can't accomplish any goal," he said.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a vocal critic of President Bush's immigration policy, says he will run for president in 2008 if no one else steps forward to press the issue.The Colorado Republican was in Nashua, N.H., on Monday, speaking to the Nashua Republican City Committee."I don't consider myself a candidate today," Mr. Tancredo said, when asked if he is considering a presidential run, adding: "If no one will take this banner up - and I say this with great trepidation - yeah, I will. I don't know what else to do."

U. S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a vocal critic of President Bush's immigration policy, announced he would run for President in 2008 - if he could not find a more viable candidate to adopt his views on illegal immigration.