Tancredo Will Enter '08 Race if There Is "No Other Person" on Immigration

Politics1 and the Denver Post report that Colorado Cong. Tom Tancredo, R, will enter the Republican presidential primary race if no other candidate will stand up for immigration reform including strict border enforcement.

"It's such an odd thing to talk about," Tancredo told The Denver Post. But "if there is no other person ... then we have no choice" but to enter the presidential race.

Norman Ornstein, an American Enterprise Institute Fellow feels that though Tancredo would play the role of Don Quixote in any primary bid, bringing the issue to the forefront as a candidate would require Republican candidates to address the issue more directly.

"Even fringe presidential candidates end up with more airtime than members of Congress. It's quixotic if you think you've got a realistic chance, but not if your goal is to continue to get airtime and get the press to bring up these issues."

Tancredo has burned bridges in the Republican Party because he has not been afraid to excoriate elected officials in both parties for sitting on the sideline while thousands of illegal immigrants continue to stream across the Mexican border. Karl Rove in particular strongly rebuked him in 2004 because of Tancredo's strong criticism of the President over border policy during the Presidential campaign.

A Primary flavor is beginning to develop!