Candidates stop in Denmark
Senate hopeful joins Tancredo, Thompson at Lee County GOP gathering.
July 29, 2007

By KILEY MILLER

kmiller@thehawkeye.com

DENMARK -- When Rep. Tom Tancredo first ran for the Colorado Legislature in 1976, he enlisted his parents to help him campaign.

After winning the election, he had the opportunity to meet one of his constituents, a man to whom it was clear his father already had spoken.

"What happened to that older guy I voted for?" the fellow asked when Tancredo introduced himself.

Three decades later, Tancredo is once again having trouble getting recognized, but this time the race is for the White House.

The four-term Congressman and self-proclaimed "second-tier" Republican presidential candidate made sure people knew who he was Saturday evening at the Lee County GOP Hog Roast, speaking at length about runaway growth in government and the issue with which he is most identified, illegal immigration.

Also appearing at the roast was Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor and secretary of Health and Human Services who has campaigned in Iowa every week since December.

While that road warrior strategy has brought Thompson to the southeast corner of the state twice previously and garnered him plenty of coverage from local media, this was Tancredo's first visit here.

A one-time school teacher, he oversaw a regional office of the Department of Education during the Reagan Administration, cutting the staff in four years from 222 employees to just 60. He then ran a conservative think-tank before winning a seat in the House of Representatives in 1998.

In his speech to the crowd of about 100 at the Denmark Celebration and Convention Center, Tancredo condemned rising subsidies and said the Constitution makes the federal government's responsibility clear -- "to protect and defend."

"I will not change my message," Tancredo said, "and it does not matter what audience I'm speaking to and it does not matter which state I'm in."

The statement was made in reference to a new federal farm bill that Tancredo said would cost about $650 billion over the next 10 years.

According to the congressman, many of the farm subsidies would go to individuals making more than $1 million annually, but smaller Iowa farmers already enjoying record prices for corn and soybeans also stand to benefit from the largesse, making the bill a delicate subject.

Tancredo's comments could be perceived as a shot at Thompson, who called during his time at the microphone for a greater commitment to ethanol and biodiesel, the two products generating those high commodity prices. If so, it would not be the first time he had gone after the former health secretary.

Thompson made several references to a mailing sent to Iowa Republicans that called him a "moderate governor," a mailing apparently generated by Tancredo's campaign.

After quoting Reagan's so-called 11th commandment -- "Do not speak ill of other Republicans" -- Thompson used his record as governor to answer the "moderate" charge. Among other claims, he said he had cut taxes by $16.5 million, spurred nationwide welfare reform through changes to the Wisconsin program, helped inner-city parents enroll their children in private schools, and wielded his veto pen 1,900 times.

"If that's being moderate," Thompson said, "so be it."

Thompson also referenced the knowledge he gleaned in his tenure at the Department of Health and Human Services to elevate his credibility in the health care reform debate, one of the most divisive thus far in the presidential campaign. He favors a free-market, less "socialized system."

"I'm really fearful that unless we transform health care," he said, "we're going to wind up with Hillary Clinton in the White House."

Finally, Thompson said he has been against "amnesty" for illegal immigrants his entire career, "contrary to what one of my opponents has said."

That opponent was Tancredo.

The congressman wore an untucked red shirt and khakis to Thompson's navy blue suit. The pair clashed just as much in their views on health care.

Tancredo, staying true to form, made it a Constitutional matter.

"It says nothing about creating a health-care plan or making sure everybody has it," he said, "and it says nothing about educating anybody's children."

Wouldn't the founding fathers "be incredulous," he added a moment later, "if they recognized what the federal government is now doing and what people believe it should do."

That was Tancredo's springboard into Hurricane Katrina. He holds claims to being one of the few members of Congress to vote against the relief bill that followed the storm. He defended that decision Saturday, saying leaders from both parties had already committed $10 billion to the clean-up effort but had no idea how the first dollar had been spent.

By comparison, Tancredo said, following the Great Chicago Fire and the 1906 earthquake in San Franciso, both cities were rebuilt in only three years. And success came without any federal assistance.

As for illegal immigration, Tancredo called it "one of the most serious domestic policy problems we have today."

Any form of amnesty for those in the country without permission will only encourage more people to jump the border, lessen the value placed on citizenship, and be a slap in the face to those immigrants who came to the country legally.

"We are becoming a Balkanized society," he said, "and we are becoming a bilingual society."

The hog roast drew one other candidate on the national stage. Steve Rathje is a Cedar Rapids businessman who hopes to dethrone Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin next year.

Rathje has logged major miles over the past two years drumming up support, and Saturday was no exception. He started the day by traveling west from his home to Council Bluffs for an event there, then recrossed the state to Lee County.

After nominating sitting congressmen to run against Harkin in the last three elections, Rathje said Republicans need to take a different tact.

"I'm unlike so many (people) in the political arena," he said. "I'm not looking at Tom Harkin. I'm looking at the seat."

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