It appears Tom Tancredo is bowing out of the Presidential race and will likely endorse Fred Thompson:
The Tancredo presidential campaign is planning a “major announcement” at 2 PM tomorrow in Des Moines. The flash media advisory is here.“Major announcement” is code phrase used by the campaigns and understood by the press to mean “dropping out of the race.” (Some candidates have been known to abuse this unwritten understanding to win some attention for what turns out to be some boring policy speech. It only creates lingering press hatred for them.)
Until this just-released media advisory from Tancredo’s campaign, it was widely believed that Tancredo intended to stay in the race at least until the January 3 Iowa Caucuses.
But something bigger than Congressman Tom Tancredo’s departure from the presidential race may be in the works.
Moments ago, I spoke to a former official of Colorado’s Secretary of State office, which sets the rules for that state’s elections. Speaking under condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to talk to the press, she said that there is “no reason for Tancredo to drop out now.”
~~~Some suspect that Tancredo will not only drop out of the race, but endorse Fred Thompson.
The Politico points out: “Perhaps most notably, Tancredo’s close friend, Rep. Steve King, passed over his colleague and threw his support behind Fred Thompson this week. King and Tancredo have worked closely on immigration and many in Iowa thought King would not endorse as long as Tancredo was in the race.”
Pure speculation but makes sense. Some think his endorsement may go to Hunter also….I guess we will see tomorrow.
UPDATE
And now we know…he’s a Romney guy, which is quite surprising seeing as how Fred illegal immigration policies fit more closely with Tancredo then Romney’s….by a long way. But The Politico has the reason they believe:
While noting that he doesn’t completely share Romney’s views, Tancredo said, “the reality is this: He is the best hope for our cause.”
He also made plain that he was moved to get out of the contest because he feared the rise of Mike Huckabee, who has taken a less hard-line approach to immigration in the past.“It was important in making this decision — you bet your life it was,” Tancredo said, speaking to a group of reporters and supporters at a press conference.
So in the end it appears Tom Tancredo, a man known for his principals and sticking by those same principals, picked Romney for a purely political gamesmanship reason instead of picking the person who would best lead with his same views.
What a sad end to his race.
It would be a little goofy for Tancredo to drop out and endorse Hunter. Hunter is polling even lower than Tancredo from what I can tell – if Tancredo decides to drop out because his prospects look bad, why throw support to someone whose prospects are even worse? But I suppose it’s possible – if Tancredo feels like he has to endorse *someone*, and all of the leading candidates aren’t tough enough on immigration for him.
And instead he endorsed… Romney? What? I don’t hate Romney, but the only way this makes sense for Tancredo is either
- Romney offered him something, or
- Tancredo figures only Huckabee, Giuliani, and Romney have a chance, and he wants to back the least objectionable of the three (on immigration).
Strange choice I think.
Yeah BB, I just posted an update and it doesn’t make sense to me either. As I said in the update, it appears his vaunted principals went to the wayside…
Curt: You’re being a tad harsh with Tancredo. He served his cause well and helped elevate the issue of illegal immigration to the top of the political debate.
That’s quite an accomplishment.
And I commend him for dropping out before Iowa so that his supporters can join the Stop Huck movement.
And of course, his few supporters are now free to make up their own minds on whom to support.
But he isn’t serving his cause well by endorsing someone who is not aligned with his beliefs and policies as well as Fred is.
Appears to be nothing but choosing someone who he thinks can win, even tho he isn’t 100% on board with his principals.
So, while I give him credit for being that one issue candidate, no way I give him credit for backing down on his principals.