Tancredo Drops Out, Endorses Romney
Tom Tancredo dropped out of the presidential race today at a press conference in Des Moines. On his way out the door, he did in fact endorse a candidate: Mitt Romney.
We'll find out in the next two weeks if Tancredo's support will help Romney at all among the sort of rabidly anti-illegal immigration voters that Tancredo had long courted, despite Tancredo's own inability to have made any way in the polls.
Late Update: Tancredo declared at the press conference, "For the same reason that I launched the campaign, I must now end it." Presumably he was referring to his stated purpose at the campaign's outset, to drive the Republican Party his way on immigration.
And he very much succeeded, with even formerly conciliatory pols like Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani embracing a harder line. As Tancredo wryly stated at the YouTube debate, "all I've heard is people trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo."
So the anti-immigrant nut endorses the guy who hires illegal immigrants to landscape his McMansion?
Can someone wake me up when this election starts making sense?
December 20, 2007 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Illegal immigrants did some work at Tancredo's house too. Seriously. His explanation is the same as Romney's... "how was I supposed to know?"
Mostly just glad he's not running for reelection in my district. Also relieved that the nation as a whole isn't as hopeless as Colorado's 6th district where Tancredo won handily every time he ran.
December 20, 2007 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon--Romney didn't hire illegal immigrants. That's a smokescreen.
Romney hired a company, who in turn hired illegal contractors. Romney fired the company when they didn't resolve it (as they promised).
If you eat at a restaurant, do you ask for them to prove their workers are legit?
If you hire a carpet cleaner in the paper, do you ask for their green cards if they don't speak English well?
We simply can't do that. I'm responsible for making sure the companies I hire are legit, but the burden isn't on me to enforce their workers status.
December 20, 2007 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, Tomster! Any help for Mitt is good for the Democrats.
December 20, 2007 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
"They" started pouring across the border as soon as he made the announcement
December 20, 2007 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
On NPR this morning, in two separate news roundups on the half-hour, Jean Cochran referred to Tancredo as "Paul Tancredo".
Kind of sad when you can't even get any name recognition from the media.
December 20, 2007 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Tancredo going to build a fence around the Romney mansion to keep immigrant mowers of Mitt's lawn!
December 20, 2007 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've posted this at more than just this blog, but I definitely do not work for Romney's campaign. I want some conservatives, who I feel haven't given Mitt a fair shake thus far, to seriously reconsider their positions. Romney is clearly now the anti-illegal immigration candidate. What candidate can win the support of ALL conservatives...fiscal, defense, AND social? Mitt's the man!
December 20, 2007 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
First Tommy Thompson then Brownback now Tancredo . . . The bat-shit crazy wing of the Republican be dropping like flys . . .
Now only McCain, Guiliani, Romney, Huckabee, Hunter, Paul, Clinton and Keyes are left to represent all the fucking wackos on the not-left.
December 20, 2007 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink