I answered my own question about the Republican primary with the help of Google.
Anti-immigration forces tout Tenn. lawmaker for president
By M.E. SPRENGELMEYER, Scripps Howard News Service
(Published January 21‚ 2004)
WASHINGTON (SH) - Immigration critics in Tennessee want to draft Rep. Tom Tancredo as a protest candidate in the upcoming Republican presidential primary, but don't expect the Colorado lawmaker to become their "volunteer."
"A lot of people think my politics are crazy, but I'm not delusional. I don't think I'm going to be president of the United States," Tancredo said in response to a new committee, "Tennesseans for Tancredo," touting a write-in candidacy on the Internet.
Some immigration reform hawks are so upset about President Bush's proposal to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants that they want to field a protest candidate in Republican presidential primaries.
A Web site, www.tennesseansfortancredo.com, cites the need to "make noise, collect signatures, build a grass-roots movement that attracts citizens from all walks of life and all political parties."
With or without Tancredo's approval, they hope critics of Bush's plan will write-in Tancredo during state presidential contests, another sign that Tancredo has become one of the most vocal critics of illegal immigration.
While Tancredo said he's flattered, he said he supports Bush on most issues except immigration and could not see himself having much of an effect on Bush's chances of victory.
"I do not intend to be the Republican Party's Dennis Kucinich," Tancredo said, referring to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the most unabashed liberal in the Democratic presidential contest who got only 1 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses.
Tancredo said there are better ways to oppose Bush's immigration plan, and this week he launched "Team Tancredo," a political action committee to raise money for candidates who oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"Tancredo for President" bumper stickers have been floating around the Internet for more than a year, and Tancredo shrugs those off, too.
"It's a conversation starter," he said. "And the conversation usually starts with, 'Who the hell is Tom Tancredo?'" |
