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Tancredo: Lax border security unacceptable
By JASON PULLIAM
REGISTER STAFF WRITER


July 20, 2007

Coralville, Ia. - Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo on Thursday unfolded a bilingual Ottumwa newspaper to demonstrate the erosion of the American identity, as he spoke to 30 people in a Johnson County residence.

"We are becoming a bilingual nation and that is not good," he said.

The five-term Colorado congressman is winding down his "Save America Tour" that began on July 12 and concludes Saturday. His goal for the tour is to convince Iowa voters he is the true, lifelong conservative among the Republican crop of contenders.

The message is simple, he said: "There's one person you can count on who's never wavered or converted on the road to Des Moines."

Tancredo describes his signature issue - illegal immigration - as crucial to the nation's survival in what he terms the war against radical Islam.

He rejects the "war on terror" label. In such a climate, Tancredo argues lax border security is unacceptable and unconscionable.

"If the country's borders can be breached by people looking to get a job in landscaping, they can certainly be breached by people who want to kill us," he said in an interview with The Des Moines Register. "There's plenty of anecdotal evidence and there's empirical evidence that has happened."

Recent polls have shown Tancredo's support among likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers at 4 percent or less. He has so far raised roughly $2.8 million.

Republican front-runners Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have raised more than $44 million and $35 million, respectively.

Tancredo is banking on retail politics and a bounce from the recent defeat of the Senate immigration bill to help him break through at the Aug. 11 Republican straw poll in Ames.

He knows he is a long shot to win his party's nomination and a poor showing at the Ames straw poll would make his odds of victory in the Iowa caucuses even tougher, he said.

"It's all about momentum, and right now the momentum is on our side, I think and I feel," he said.

Undecided Johnson County Republican Richard Wootonn said he is intrigued by Tancredo's firm stance on illegal immigration.

"Come be a part, but assimilate," Wootonn says of those who wish to immigrate.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/SPORTS06