Some are in the 2008 race for President because they genuinely believe that they can truly serve America’s best interests only by achieving that office. But some - such as Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo - are running for something deeper. Tancredo’s mission - for those who haven’t read a newspaper or watched tv news in about two years - is for America to secure its borders and deal with illegal immigrants without granting them amnesty.
To the disappointment and outrage of many conservatives, President Bush, Sen. John McCain and other Republicans have backed a “comprehensive” immigration reform bill that combined amnesty with token measures to secure the bordesr. Tancredo is one of the leaders fighting against the bill and continues campaigning almost solely on this issue.
“I’m not running for President to see my name on the ballot or just because it’s a great ego trip,” Tancredo told HUMAN EVENTS, “I’m running because I believe with all my heart that this issue really will determine whether we survive in the long run as a nation.”
He made that case at Tuesday night’s Republican debate in New Hampshire, as one interviewer opened the topic with, “Congressman Tancredo, let’s talk immigration.”
Tancredo spoke fervently about doing “whatever is necessary to try and stop this piece of legislation and that includes go after any Republican that votes for it.”
He has since launched the “Save America Campaign,” which aims to kill the current bill through citizen action. Visitors can sign up to let the campaign know if they are willing to help by calling their senators and working against it any way they can, including traditional grassroots methods like petitions and protests. According to Tancredo, over 20,000 people signed onto the campaign within 24-hours. And from Tuesday to Wednesday this week, they raised about $25,000 in online funding - a significant accomplishment for a campaign this size in that short a period of time.
“The real success of my campaign will be determined by the degree to which we are able to stop this bill…or changed the direction of the nation generally,” Tancredo told HUMAN EVENTS. “Although I have to tell you if it were to pass, coming back from it would not be an easy task.”
A number of concerned conservatives are embracing Tancredo’s philosophy of effectively securing the borders and protecting legal Americans’ rights. But if he is to earn a higher place in the polls, or even continue his campaign much longer, Tancredo will have to become credible on a multitude of issues. Some supporters believe he can.
Twenty-year-old Jonathon Estep, a student at Arizona State University, first began supporting Tancredo when researching illegal immigration. “He has the courage to say what needs to be done, despite what people say about him, and never backs down [and]… he also is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the people of the United States.”
Calling himself a “blue dog Democrat,” Peter Bultman, an employee of a prominent national interest group (thought he is restricted from publicizing which), supports Tancredo on the immigration issue alone. Bultman has worked for both the Democrat and Republican parties in the past and admitted that Democrat candidate John Edwards would be his second choice for President behind Tancredo.
He said that although Tancredo has “stumbled through” some of his responses recently, he has “filled a vacuum in the Republican presidential field by forcing a conversation about immigration.”
Bilingual education is another significant component and what initially inspired Tancredo. Thirty years ago, he was a teacher in Colorado, where such education is advocated. He said, “I kept wondering why, why, why, who would do this to a kid - take him out of a class where he’s learning English and put him into a class where he’s taught in Spanish and almost doom him to a life of impoverishment?”
Tancredo then recognized the political implications that could actually make a difference. During Tuesday’s debate, he called the English language the “glue” of our nation. He re-iterated in our interview that America is different than any other country because we have no common histories, cultures or heritages. For this reason, he said, we “desperately need one thing that does bind us together.”
Tancredo’s ultimate plan is simple: enforce the law. He won’t venture to guess how the bill’s outcome will affect his campaign, but law enforcement will supersede compromise if he becomes President. In a 2006 speech in Iowa, he told the audience, “We can [enforce the law], we simply choose not to…if you enforce the law, then people who are here illegally - they go home.” Without jobs and benefits, there is no reason to stay.
Tancredo targets specific politicians supporting amnesty and says if the bill does pass, we will lose a connection to what America really is and it will be offensive to those who have “done it right way.”
Estep agrees. His father immigrated to the United States legally in the 1960s and he said, “I feel that it is a slap in the face to my father and all other legal immigrants to grant these people amnesty or anything other than deportation.”
The immigration bill failed a test vote yesterday in the Senate so its fate may soon be determined.
“If it does not pass it is because America has risen up essentially and told their elected representatives that it should not,” said Tancredo. “This is a test of our Republic…to determine whether or not people in leadership will actually listen to the American people.”
