Run, Tom, Run

WASHINGTON (AP)—Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo is headed to Iowa this weekend to test the waters on a potential presidential run, his spokesman said Friday. Tancredo, known for his outspoken criticism of illegal immigration, will meet with Iowa GOP leaders and grassroots activists to see how they would respond if he ran, Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa said.

Tancredo will also promote his book, ‘’In Mortal Danger,’’ which warns about the need to secure U.S. borders.

If he runs, Tancredo’s campaign would make immigration a central issue, Espinosa said….

Tancredo views the trip as vital in his decision whether to run, Espinosa said. “A lot hinges on this — this weekend will determine a lot,” Espinosa said.

There is an Internet discussion group supporting a Tancredo candidacy. To join, send an email to:
tomtancredoforpresident-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

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Clark Coleman writes:

I am hoping that Tancredo does not run for President, for two reasons:

1) Single-issue candidates are always painted as extremists or crackpots by the mass media, they seldom win, and then their issue is brought into disrepute by the loss. I do not want to see that happen to immigration. We should be realistic about his chances of winning before we urge him to run.

2) Why should immigration reform be an issue that “belongs” to a single-issue candidate? A man with a fundamental understanding of what it means to be a conservative should seek immigration reform as a means of conserving the heritage he received from his ancestors. We need to educate the public and politicians alike on the essential relationship between conservatism and immigration reform. A Tancredo candidacy accomplishes the opposite.

If Tancredo were well known to Americans as a conservative on spending, taxes, regulation, the judiciary and the rule of law, moral and family issues, etc., and were running on all these issues but perhaps a little more strongly on immigration than any other issue, that would be a very different matter.

LA replies:

While I don’t know how deep Tancredo’s critique goes in cultural terms, he is good. But I agree with you that what is needed is to bring immigration restriction along with other key conservative positions into relationship with an overall cultural and moral and social perspective that explains and justifies those positions, namely a perspective, traditionalism, that is radically different from the dominant perspective of our time.

On one issue after another, traditionalism leads out of the incoherence and creeping despair of liberalism, to clarity and hope.

James R. writes:

Tancredo will receive support from many posters at this site that I didn’t know existed until today.

52,023 comments on illegal “immigrants.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 13, 2007 10:35 AM | Send