Tancredo Drops Bid for White House

Rep. Tom Tancredo announced Thursday he is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsing rival Mitt Romney.

Tancredo, a five-term congressman from Colorado, has consistently polled at the bottom of the nine-person Republican field. He based his campaign on fighting illegal immigration and has run television ads that link lax border control to terrorist attacks, rape and other crimes.

He announced his withdrawal in downtown Des Moines two weeks before Iowa begins the presidential nominating process with the state's precinct caucuses.

(http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4034388)

In the Hunter camp, we are dissapointed that Tom Tancredo didn't throw his support behind Duncan Hunter. He says in the following article:

"True to his single issue focus, Tancredo chose to throw his support behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney out of a mixture of agreement and spite. Romney, 'has actually got a record,' said Tancredo. 'He was governor of a liberal state but opposed drivers licenses for illegal immigrants and instate tuition for illegal immigrants� at a time when they weren't issues on the national scene.'"

However, a supporter of Tancredo who heard the announcement as he arrived at Tancredo's campaign office to volunteer commented:

"When asked if he would follow Tancredo's endorsement and support Romney, Johnson said he'd be more inclined to support California Congressman Duncan Hunter, another dark horse candidate who's tough on immigration. 'I don't like Romney,' Johnson said, before driving off in his dusty grey sedan.

'God Bless him,' said Tancredo said of his last would-be volunteer. 'Duncan Hunter is a great guy. Duncan Hunter doesn't have a chance. I have better numbers than Duncan. One of the reasons I'm endorsing Romney is he can go the distance.'"

(excerpt...see http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1697551,00.html)

I think Tancredo is a good man, but Duncan Hunter is/was his friend and has indicated he'll be in it until the end. They worked together on border control issues. To not endorse Hunter, especially when Hunter has the best record on immigration, is wrong. The good news is that many supporters of Tancredo also like Hunter. Hopefully we will gain a lot of his supporters in our camp. Hunter can win. All you have to do is get behind him, believe, and work. We can do it!