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LITTLETON - Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) says he will run for President in 2008 if that's what it will take to get a "legitimate" national discussion on the topic of immigration reform.

Watch the full interview with Tom Tancredo. July 1, 2005. link

The 4th-term Republican made the comments Friday from his home in Littleton where he is preparing to head to Iowa next week to speak with voters in one of the early Presidential Primary states.

Tancredo has already visited New Hampshire and the Carolinas, all states with early Presidential Primaries. His trips are being coordinated by Bay Buchanan, sister and former campaign manager of former Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan.

"I'm not so naive to think I'd be a huge threat to the nominee," Tancredo said. "(But) I am in a position to be influential in the process."

Tancredo has received national attention for his stance on tightening up this country's borders, clashing with not just rival Democrats, but also with leaders of his own party including the President. He says while Congress may want to discuss social security and health care, the American public wants to talk about immigration reform.

"I think it is the most important domestic policy issue we can face," he said. "I am intent on making this immigration issue part of the national debate during that Presidential election... and I will do that any way I can."

If he does run for the nation's highest office, Tancredo would be the fourth Colorado politician to do so in recent years. Former Governor Dick Lamm sought the 1996 Reform Party nomination, losing to Ross Perot. Former U.S. Senator Gary Hart tried twice unsuccessfully (1984 & 198 to become the Democratic Party's nominee for President and former U.S. Representative Patricia Schroeder ran for President in 1988, but dropped out early on.

Political analysts say Tancredo's chances of winning are slim, but his chances of impacting who will, are significant.

"The public is demanding some action (on immigration reform) and Tom Tancredo is the man of the hour," said 9News Political Analyst Floyd Ciruli. "I do believe he is doing a masterful job using this Presidential campaign as a tool to both move the issue up in terms of everybody's attention, but also potentially put pressure on other Presidential candidates.

"This is his issue. He owns it. By Tom being in New Hampshire and Iowa, he is giving himself clout in the Washington debates."

For his part, Tancredo says he does not have the "fire in the belly" needed to run for President and hopes Congress and the President will actually embrace significant immigration reform before the 2008 Presidential election. However, if they don't, he will run for the office.

"If it means at some point saying I'm a candidate, I'll do it," said Tancredo. "Stranger things have happened in politics. I just can't think of any."

"There are people in the administration, and in Mexico, and in Congress, who believe that we should do away with borders entirely. Their ultimate goal is to create this hemispheric ‘free trade’ area consolidating all of North and South America into some kind of ‘United States of the Americas." -Tom Tancredo