Word: tancredos
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...Coffman are running for the seat of retiring GOP lawmaker and erstwhile presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who built a political career in Arapahoe out of his anti-immigration crusade. (His presidential campaign slogan: "Secure the borders. Deport those who don't belong. Make sure they never come back.") When Tancredo first entered political life 30 years ago, the county's most prominent homegrown politician was Republican Senator Bill Armstrong, a conservative of the William F. Buckley mold. Arapahoe voted for Ronald Reagan by a 39-point margin...
...other words, he still holds out hope of pressuring McCain to shift his positions on immigration, or at least not moderate them, by threatening to resort to the kind of public criticism that could erode the Republican base in key states. On Tuesday, Tancredo shot off a warning flare of sorts in the form of a public letter calling on McCain to clarify his position on immigration reform. "Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part," Tancredo said in an inteview. "I guess I am holding out hope that when he says he 'got the message,' that means something...
...Tancredo is not the only one unclear about McCain's immigration position after the contentious primary campaign, in which the issue regularly polled as the second most important among likely Republcian voters, next to the Iraq war. "I will tell you, there is some confusion right now, some need for clarity," says Janet Murguía, the president of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group. "There are some folks in our country who are confused about exactly where...
...that is exactly the kind of talk that concerns Tancredo, who has announced that he will be leaving Congress after this term to try to clamp down on illegal immigration at the state and local level. He plans to continue to warn McCain, raising the dark specter of Republicans failing to show up at the polls in November. "It's awfully shaky," Tancredo says of the Republican base. "That's why I think it is disastrous to do something that gets into the 'comprehensive' approach...
...however, Tancredo's talk is just that. And the fact that an immigration hardliner like Tancredo plans to pull the lever for McCain suggests that the Republican immigration backlash he threatens may not materialize this fall...