Thread: Tancredo campaign: more scare tactics

Tancredo campaign: more scare tactics
By Cindy Rodriguez
Denver Post Staff Columnist
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated:04/08/2007 12:06:09 AM MDT

Call Tom Tancredo the no-chance candidate, a one-trick pony.

While he may not be a real contender, the Colorado congressman has a million dollars and a dream: to push the issue of undocumented immigration to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign.

It's the sole reason he's running for prez.

In many ways Tancredo is like Al Sharpton, the Democratic challenger of the '04 race who knew he couldn't win but used his platform to talk in no-nonsense fashion about civil rights issues.

You have to admire someone who is passionate about an issue, even if you disagree with him. But Tancredo borders on the obsessive. It's evident in his actions.

He's hung out along the Mexican border with gun-toting "Minutemen" vigilantes who dress in camouflage and wear night-vision goggles.

At a California rally he held up a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "America is full."

He said Miami, a city that is majority Latino, resembles a "third-world country."

And in South Carolina he didn't mind speaking in a room draped with Confederate battle flags, where men dressed in Confederate regalia sang "Dixie," an offensive song that came out of blackface minstrel shows of the 1850s, mocking freed slaves.

It's understandable why Esquire magazine called him "Tancrazy."

While political analysts call him a fringe candidate, that fringe is vocal. I should know: I hear from them regularly.

But it would be unfair to call them all unreasonable, especially if their reasoning is based on lies fed to them by the likes of hate-radio host Peter Boyles and politicians such as Tancredo.

Who has time to research the pros and cons of illegal immigration? The word "illegal" alone determines the way a lot of people think.

Rather than trying to understand the grays, it's easier to accept the myths: that undocumented immigrants take jobs away from Americans, that those workers bring wages down, that illegal immigrants are dangerous people who want to live off welfare.

It reminds of me an episode of "The Twilight Zone" where on happy-go-lucky Maple Street neighbors become suspicious of each other because of power outages caused, unbeknownst to them, by Martians. They wind up hurling rocks at each other.

Rod Serling's closing narration is still relevant: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone."

It explains comments like this one posted on a Denver Post blog: "We have more Mexican citizens per square mile here than most places in Mexico. Trouble is, they're not immigrants. Immigration is fine - breaking in isn't. Most of our Mexicans (including the legal ones) aren't immigrants in their hearts. They have ZERO interest in becoming Americans. Calling them undocumented migrants or giving them some other 'soft-talk' name is like calling your daughter's rapist 'my undocumented son-in-law."'

Tancredo has a following all right; much of it comes from creating fear and tapping into people's anger.

What these folks don't realize is they're aligning themselves with a man who doesn't address education, employment or health-care issues of middle-class families.

Instead, Tancredo will play on emotional social issues, borrowing a tactic that conservatives have been using for decades. He'll rail against abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research, with his main issue being illegal immigration.

Donations may be trickling in - Tancredo has $1 million in his campaign chest- but that is nickels and dimes. (New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has 36 times that amount - yes, $36 million - in her coffer.)

It's probably enough for a fringe candidate who has said himself he has no way of winning the presidency.

I just hope his fear-mongering doesn't appeal much beyond his fringe fan base, to the people who live on Maple Street.

Cindy Rodríguez's column appears Tuesdays and Sundays. Visit Cindy's blog at denverpostbloghouse.com/rodriguez


http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5586555

Folks in Denver need to write this paper about their one sided reporter. She needs an education on how much these illegals are costing us tax payers all the crimes they comit towards u.s. citzens. And it's people like Tancredo who understand the frustation people feel about our goverment not listening to us.

Posted By: Truthy (08/04/2007 9:09:45 AM)

Comment: The mere fact that a virulent Hispanic activist like you feels threatened enough to slam Mr. Tancredo is proof that he IS effective in bringing this issue to the forefront. And you must not ever listen to Mr. Boyles show because the "hate" you imagine just isn't there. And if someone who is against illegal immigration is considered on the "fringe" to you, then perhaps you need hang out with people other than the activist liberal types. There are many more people who support Mr. Tancredo than you know. That must infuriate you because it hinders your agenda. Honestly, how childish can you be?


Reply to Comment

Posted By: John (08/04/2007 10:59:34 AM)

Comment: She's a virulent Hispanic activist? And hating something obtusely described as "illegal immigration" is mainstream? How did Colorado end up with so many fruitloops? Think for yourself, it's not that hard once you get used to it...


Show/Hide Replies (2) | Reply to Comment

Posted By: Mary (08/04/2007 11:05:10 AM)

Comment: It's funny how anybody with a Hispanic name who's employed as a "journalist" always seems to be pro-illegal-alien in a big way. It's almost like they put poeple of their "race" whether American or not ahead of their country and their community, or something. Could it be that's the way Cindy feels? Nah, couldn't be, that would be "racist" wouldn't it?


Reply to Comment

Posted By: Truthy (08/04/2007 12:21:13 PM)

Comment: I do think for myself. That is why I think YOU are an idoit. I see the trends first hand. Talk till you are blue in the face. I know I am right. And I will never give up. Sorry. Go cry to your professor.


Reply to Comment

Posted By: Mary (08/04/2007 11:02:18 AM)

Comment: What "myths" would those be Cindy? Los Angeles county officials just admitted that illegals suck up a whopping $429 million in welfare and food stamp payments per year through their anchor babies. This total -- nearly 1/2 billion dollars -- doesnt include "free" healthcare or "free" public school education for the little darlings. The LA county D.A. (a "Latino" himself) also just admitted that illegal immigration is a big factor in that city's hideous drug gang problems. Lastly we've had a huge spate of drunk driving killings by illegals recently including the death of the man who directed "A Christmas Story" and his 22-year-old son, and two teen-age girls in Virginia Beach. Those of us who have been following the story all along are not shocked -- we've got hundreds if not thousands of stories like this in our files.

Tancredo has a following all right; much of it comes from creating fear and tapping into people's anger.

Well he certainly tapped into my anger. Anger over being forced to sell my home of 33 years because my town was beginning to look and sound like Tijuana, Mexico. Anger over watching hospital emergency rooms closing all over my state. Anger from witnessing middle class parents forced to pay private school tuition because the public schools are not fit for civilized people. Anger over horrendous traffic congestion brought about by the influx of millions of illegal aliens. And on and on, ad nauseam. You bet I'm angry, and millions more just like me.

It is most interesting and curious that this 'article' appears in the business section and not in editorial section - where it rightfully belongs.

This is not journalism. It is ranting by a person with a foregone conclusion lacking fair representation of the opposing point of view (aka is opinion).

Originally Posted by PhredE

It is most interesting and curious that this 'article' appears in the business section and not in editorial section - where it rightfully belongs.

This is not journalism. It is ranting by a person with a foregone conclusion lacking fair representation of the opposing point of view (aka is opinion).

My thoughts exactly Phred! This is clearly an opinion piece.

I planned to highlight and quote the statements made in this article that were just wrong headed and respond but I ended up highlighting the entire "story".
Wow. Did this article get the stamp of approval from La Raza?
Are they all getting their talking points from Mecha?
Did Juan Hernandez sanction this reporter as a propagandist for "The Cause"?

There were no room for facts in this article. The agenda smells.

Call Tom Tancredo the no-chance candidate, a one-trick pony.

If his only trick is cleaing out this country of illegals, he has my vote.

While he may not be a real contender, the Colorado congressman has a million dollars and a dream: to push the issue of undocumented immigration to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign.

He doesn't need to push it to the front. It is already there.

It's the sole reason he's running for prez.

Personally, I can't think of a more important reason to run..

In many ways Tancredo is like Al Sharpton, the Democratic challenger of the '04 race who knew he couldn't win but used his platform to talk in no-nonsense fashion about civil rights issues.

You have to admire someone who is passionate about an issue, even if you disagree with him. But Tancredo borders on the obsessive. It's evident in his actions.

What would you call the actions of La Raza or Mecha? What would you call the actions of a group of people that storm our American streets with Mexican flags and signs demanding something they have no right to?

He's hung out along the Mexican border with gun-toting "Minutemen" vigilantes who dress in camouflage and wear night-vision goggles.

He is hanging out with American Heros. They wouldn't need to be carrying guns if the National Guard were armed and not left with no way to defend themselves. They would not need to wear night vision goggles if the invaders came thru the legal system and didn't slither across the border carrying guns and drugs in the dead of night like the low life criminals they are.

At a California rally he held up a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "America is full."

Agreed

He said Miami, a city that is majority Latino, resembles a "third-world country."

He wanted to go there to speak to the Non illegal residents held prisoner there but he received so many death threats that they had to cancel his speech because they could not guarantee his safety. Sounds third worldish to me

And in South Carolina he didn't mind speaking in a room draped with Confederate battle flags, where men dressed in Confederate regalia sang "Dixie," an offensive song that came out of blackface minstrel shows of the 1850s, mocking freed slaves.

This writer has no understanding about the culture or the history of the south. The Confederate flag has a rich American history and is not seen as negative to those who appreciate our rich History. This writer is a hate monger and a racist.


It's understandable why Esquire magazine called him "Tancrazy."

Yes it is. They have to try to tear him down. If he were an insignificant as this writer implys, they wouldn't be so afraid of him. Why are you so afraid? Is it because he is gaining national attention and support?

While political analysts call him a fringe candidate, that fringe is vocal. I should know: I hear from them regularly.

That isn't the FRINGE sweetheart. That is mainstream America. YOU are the fringe.

But it would be unfair to call them all unreasonable, especially if their reasoning is based on lies fed to them by the likes of hate-radio host Peter Boyles and politicians such as Tancredo.

How patronizing! How condesending! How arrogant!
We are not sheep! We think for ourselves. He has not lead us to believe anything. We know what is going on. He doesn't lead us by the nose. He represents what we are thinking and what we want!

Who has time to research the pros and cons of illegal immigration? The word "illegal" alone determines the way a lot of people think.

I have time. As do millions of other Americans. If you think we are too wrapped up in what Britney Spears is doing to think about the important things you are badly mistaken. The word illegal determines the way that people think because the word has a definition. You can rename these invaders any kind of migrating, immigrating, undocumented....whatever else you want. They are illegal aliens. Period.

Rather than trying to understand the grays, it's easier to accept the myths: that undocumented immigrants take jobs away from Americans, that those workers bring wages down, that illegal immigrants are dangerous people who want to live off welfare.

There is no grey about the facts that illegals enter this country and take jobs for less money then Americans can or should work for. They depress the wages forcing Americans out of jobs. That is a fact. Americans are being slaughtered on a daily basis by illegals. On the roads by unlicenced drunken drivers with no insurance. By gangs running amok in our streets. By drug dealers who sell to our children and have the blood of our children who overdose on their hands. And as far as welfare goes, a recent report shows that the average illegal, if he pays any taxes at all, pays only about 9,000 dollars per year but uses 32,000 dollars in social services leaving a negative net of about 23,000 dollares that the American people must break their backs to pay for.

It reminds of me an episode of "The Twilight Zone" where on happy-go-lucky Maple Street neighbors become suspicious of each other because of power outages caused, unbeknownst to them, by Martians. They wind up hurling rocks at each other.

Rod Serling's closing narration is still relevant: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone."

Some one needs to step away from the meds....

It explains comments like this one posted on a Denver Post blog: "We have more Mexican citizens per square mile here than most places in Mexico. Trouble is, they're not immigrants. Immigration is fine - breaking in isn't. Most of our Mexicans (including the legal ones) aren't immigrants in their hearts. They have ZERO interest in becoming Americans. Calling them undocumented migrants or giving them some other 'soft-talk' name is like calling your daughter's rapist 'my undocumented son-in-law."'

Sounds like a pretty solid arguement to me!

Tancredo has a following all right; much of it comes from creating fear and tapping into people's anger.

Tancredo is not causing the fear. He is addressing it. The fear (really it is anger) is caused by watching our streets fill with ungrateful demanding rude immigrants both legal and illegal who put their own selfish desires and their loyalty to their home countries above the good of the American people. We are sick of seeing our American flag mistreated, stepped on, disgraced and ill used. That flag represents the American people and it is a slap in the face to all of us. THAT is what is making us mad and it is about damn time!

What these folks don't realize is they're aligning themselves with a man who doesn't address education, employment or health-care issues of middle-class families.

He addresses each of these issues by explaining that each of these issues are directly impacted by illegal immigration and the abuse of our system.


Instead, Tancredo will play on emotional social issues, borrowing a tactic that conservatives have been using for decades. He'll rail against abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research, with his main issue being illegal immigration.

Oh really? I thought you said that he was a one trick pony? Nice try!

Donations may be trickling in - Tancredo has $1 million in his campaign chest- but that is nickels and dimes. (New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has 36 times that amount - yes, $36 million - in her coffer.)

Before you get too smug, Tancredo has raised 1,500,000.00. Most of it in increments of 60 dollars. THAT is a lot of little people. You know, the little people that you raise your nose to? Hillary is a good old boy in a really bad haircut. She raises her funds the good old fashioned way. Political promises and networking with the big wigs. BUT who will get more votes? I think you know the answer and that is where your fear comes from!

It's probably enough for a fringe candidate who has said himself he has no way of winning the presidency.

I just hope his fear-mongering doesn't appeal much beyond his fringe fan base, to the people who live on Maple Street.

So, marching in the streets and gang violence is not fear mongering but addressing the needs and concerns of 85 percent of the American public is?
And sweetheart....it isn't just Maple Street. It is Main street too. And you know what? I smell fear.

If you guys would like to email this moron, her email address is as follows:

crodriguez@denverpost.com

After April 10 her email address will be :

CindyRodriguezinDetroit@gmail.com

I just sent her an email explaining my disgust of her politics

Johnny

Thanks johnny1966. I just sent Ms. Cindy an email expressing my views of her article also. Maybe she won't be so eager to pontificate if we all let her know how REAL Americans think.