Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo dropped out of the GOP presidential race today in Des Moines, IA. And he endorsed Mitt Romney.
"For the same reason that I launched the campaign, I must now end it," Tancredo said.
More to come on this story...
*** UPDATE *** Per NBC's Ben Weltman, Tancredo trumpeted his ability to stir the pot on immigration. “In fact, according to Newsweek, the Tancredo campaign has already won," he said at the news conference. "And just this month, The Economist, The New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, and even the New York Times have grudgingly accredited our campaign with forcing the issue of immigration to the forefront of the debate and more importantly, with forcing every Republican presidential candidate to commit themselves to an immigration plan that calls for securing our borders, enforcing our immigration laws, and even the Democrats are tortured by the fact that a misstatement on the issue."
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico MontanaroMultiple sources tell First Read Tancredo will likely pull out of the race for the Republican nomination tomorrow. The campaign says the candidate will make a "major announcement" at 3:00 pm ET in Des Moines, Iowa. It's unclear if he will endorse a candidate tomorrow as well.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Tancredo attempted to justify his controversial new ad in an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. He said the FBI has released reports on malls being targets and talked of “chatter” about “potential activity in the United States.”
“All I’m saying is what we know to be the case,” Tancredo said. “We know there are consequences to open borders.”
He also said he doesn't care if the ad hurts his campaign. "C'est la vie," he said, adding, "I don’t care what it does to the campaign. Whether the numbers go up or go down."
Questioned on whether the ad is fear-mongering, he said, "Why shouldn’t we talk about the most serious matters. ...I'm all for trying to stop someone from trying to get here. That’s the purpose of this ad."
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From NBC's Mark Murray and NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
In David Gregory's interview on the trail with Thompson, which aired on TODAY this morning, Thompson said: "You gotta have change that people believe in. You've got to have changers who have credibility, and I like to think that's my history in politics."
An Obama spokesman -- who points out that Obama supporters held thousands of signs at Saturday's Jefferson Jackson dinner in Iowa that read, "Change you can believe in" -- tells First Read: "I guess it's more credible than him saying he's 'Fired up and ready to go.'"
The slogan "Change you can believe in" also headlined Obama's most recent campaign swing through Iowa.
From NBC/NJ's Mike MemoliCONCORD, NH --
Tancredo filed for the New Hampshire primary this morning, saying that the Colorado Rockies have shown that "anything can happen."
"I know the odds are long," he said. "[But] in April the Rockies were too hurt for a team. And in August, they just couldn't put it together. September, they were too far behind. And look what happens." He added, "Anything can happen, in sports and in politics."
Tancredo paid the $1,000 filing fee by check, after filling out the declaration of candidacy form at the historic filing desk in the secretary of state's office. Tancredo is the first of the major presidential candidates to file.
After filing, Tancredo laughed at the idea that Romney was challenging other candidates' Republican credentials. "I don't think I were do that if I were Mitt," he said. Tancredo added that his voting record is one of the highest rated in the field by Republican interest groups. "I have a record that is consistent. And I will tell you, as opposed to almost every other person on the stage, I think that that is the most glaring example of the difference between us, and certainly between myself and Mr. Romney."
Tancredo then offered to take the debate one step further. "A hundred years ago, you would test someone's veracity by a duel, or some other kind of physical test," Tancredo said. "I'll do this, I challenge Governor Romney to a trap-shooting contest here in New Hampshire. Loser drops out."
From NBC's Andy Merten
Tancredo came out pretty strong against yesterday's passing of the Biden-Brownback bill in the Senate, which suggests a three-region partition of Iraq, by Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. He said Congress can chose to authorize war, fund a war, or not fund a war, but added, "You cannot micromanage it from the Congress of the United States." It's too bad the format of this forum doesn't really allow for rebuttals between candidates -- it'd be interesting to see Brownback's response to this.
From NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli
KEENE, N.H. -- Tancredo, who skipped the NRA Convention in Washington on Friday, put his Second Amendment credentials on display here Sunday, serving as the Celebrity Guest Shooter at a fundraiser for local Republicans. “As opposed to other people who have made the statement, I have actually hunted all my life,” Tancredo said.
The Colorado congressman played the mark, meaning anyone who hit more targets than him in the three-phase competition was entered into a raffle for prizes, which included frozen turkeys. Tancredo, who did not use any of his own guns, joked after that he shot just poorly enough to ensure that everyone finished better than him. “It’s just what you have to do, right?” he asked.
“I think he did pretty well,” said Juliana Bergeron, chair of the Cheshire County GOP. “Everybody says it’s different if you’re not shooting with your own guns.”
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