For all of his bravado and inflammatory political rhetoric, Congressman Tom Tancredo’s presidential campaign flamed out long before it could ever catch fire.
Pffft.
His decision to drop out of the race, just days before the Iowa caucus, wasn’t a surprise. His poll numbers were weak in the state where he had spent most of his time and money.
We’re not sorry to see him go — his over-the-top, fear-mongering ads in Iowa made our toes curl — but we are disappointed the Littleton Republican never emerged as an effective voice for immigration reform.
Some have said that’s an unrealistic expectation, but we have always considered it to be his obligation.
Since elected to Congress in 1998, fighting illegal immigration has been issue numero uno for Tancredo. To give sufficient voice to the issue, and to shed some of the relative anonymity that comes with being part of the massive, 435-member Congress, he became part circus barker, part provocateur and part politician.
He worked hard to advance an important issue that others ignored, but once he had the platform, he never contributed to a resolution to the thorny and growing problem.
The issue, for Tancredo, has always been too black and white: There’s a legal way into this country. If you don’t take it, hit the bricks. He resisted any approach that could provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who fulfill various requirements.
Pragmatism was never part of his plans.
Tancredo always said he was running because no one else was willing to carry the torch on illegal immigration, and he wanted to foist the issue upon the frontrunners. Thursday, he threw his support to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Romney, he said, will secure the borders, prosecute employers who hire illegal immigrants and send illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. now back home.
Good luck with that, Mitt.
Securing the border and cracking down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants is important, but rounding up and deporting 12 to 15 million people is simply hyperbole.
To succeed, Romney, who is suddenly struggling in Iowa, must offer more to the immigration debate than Tancredo. Otherwise:
Pffft.
