denver post congressional endorsements

Tancredo has an obligation

6th District
Article Last Updated:10/14/2006 11:59:48 AM MDT

Tom Tancredo wasn't the first to wave the flag on illegal immigration, but he's been among the most relentless. (That's good.) Unfortunately, he's also been among the most unyielding. (That's bad.)

By his willingness to sound the alarm, the Republican who holds Colorado's 6th Congressional District seat has become the face of the anti-illegal movement. Now it's time to achieve a solution, and Tancredo can play a leading role if he has the nerve to see it through.

We didn't support Tancredo's re-election bid in 2004, preferring challenger Joanna Conti who would have served without Tancredo's polarizing persona and single-item agenda.

But Tancredo has worked hard to advance an important issue that others would like to ignore, and we believe he can contribute to its resolution. Members of the House and Senate have hit a stalemate, but there are 12 million reasons they should forge an agreement.

We urge voters in the 6th to give Tancredo a chance to champion a comprehensive solution. We endorse his candidacy with trepidation. We know he'd have to swallow hard to make a compromise with the White House, but after Election Day it will be time to find common ground.

We provide this free advice to Rep. Tancredo: For every thing there is a season. A time to kick and scream. A time to be pragmatic. The issue has been joined. The public expects a resolution.

Tancredo's opponent, Democrat Bill Winter, is no stranger to public service and is a respectable alternative for voters who believe Tancredo is wrong on his issue and unlikely to help achieve a solution. Winter is a veteran of the Navy and Marines and offers a valuable voice on military matters. A former educator, he's ready to reform the unworkable No Child Left Behind law.

Winter also takes a sensible middle ground on immigration.

The Senate and President Bush have fashioned comprehensive immigration reform that includes border security, employer sanctions, a guest-worker program and an eventual path to citizenship. Tancredo says he doesn't oppose a guest worker program in theory but that border security must come first. A key area for compromise would resolve the impasse over the legal status of 12 million illegal immigrants already in this country. Tancredo has resisted any approach that could provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who fulfill various requirements. That's a cornerstone of the president's plan and the Senate's, and properly so.

We've come to respect Tancredo's effort to force the issue - he's a born provocateur. He'll need to show flexibility if he truly expects to solve the problem.

"I would love to see us pass something that really does something and get this behind us than to have a debate that becomes more rancorous," Tancredo told us recently.

It's entirely possible, and he has an obligation to get it done.

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_4484539