http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politic ... _pull.html

January 17, 2007
Tancredo's Pull
Posted by TOM BEVAN David Yepsen writes in yesterday's Des Moines Register that a White House run by Rep. Tom Tancredo could pull the GOP field to the right in Iowa:

Tancredo also said he has signed up conservative Iowa GOP activist Bill Salier to chair his campaign in Iowa.
Salier energized Iowa Republican conservatives in his unsuccessful 2002 primary bid for the U.S. Senate against Greg Ganske. Salier got an impressive 41 percent of the vote.

While Tancredo has to be ranked as the longest of presidential long shots, he has the potential to pull the Republican field of candidates to the right, particularly on his signature issue of curbing illegal immigration.

He had said earlier he wouldn't run for president if the other leading GOP contenders took a hard-line stance against illegal immigration.

They aren't, so he's in. "Unfortunately, no one in the top tier conveys a concern about this issue," he said. He was especially critical of U.S. Sen. John McCain for co-sponsoring guest-worker legislation with Sen. Ted Kennedy. "It's the McKennedy bill," Tancredo said.


Again, McCain gets singled out for his position, but Giuliani is every bit as pro-immigration. Mitt Romney has his own particular problems with the issue. Even second-tier candidates like Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback favor comprehensive reform.

The only other declared candidate is Duncan Hunter who shares many similarities with Tancredo: he's a hardliner on illegal immigration, he's from the House of Representatives, and he has no chance of winning. But together Tancredo and Hunter will hold the other candidates' feet to the fire on the issue of immigration as Yepsen suggests.