« Previous Entry | Main | Next Entry »

Posted: July 18, 2007 6:28 PM
Tancredo Sets Sights on Ames Straw Poll
Email This

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is not letting up on his efforts to woo Iowa voters in the weeks leading up to the Ames straw poll.

He continues his travels through the Hawkeye State this week with stops in Monticello on Thursday, West Liberty, Oskaloosa, Colfax, Winterset and Boone on Friday, and Council Bluffs on Saturday. The Des Moines Register also provided some credence to the notion that many Iowa Republican caucus-goers are looking for a candidate who is willing to get tough on immigration.

In a stop in Adel on Monday, Tancredo accused former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of flip-flopping on immigration. Similarly, the Tancredo campaign is also questioning the immigration credentials of former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Tancredo is ahead of social conservative rival Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., in National Journal’s Campaign Race Rankings, placing him in sixth place. His appearance as the sole Republican at the NAACP convention last week gave him a boost, and his Iowa team was praised for knowing “how to make waves.”

The congressman drew applause from the NAACP audience, if not for agreement on his stances as much for appreciation for his participation out of an otherwise absent Republican field. He told the audience that illegal immigration hurts African-American workers in particular, and that he finds it insulting when immigration advocates argue that illegal immigrants do the jobs Americans will not do.

In a show of the growing role of the Internet in presidential campaigns, the Tancredo camp has been conducting question-and-answer sessions with voters via YouTube. The campaign also is in Round 4 of Tancredo’s Take, in which supporters or other interested parties can ask questions about his policies.