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Date Posted: 11:44:02 12/05/07 Wed
Author: JMR (Good for him!)
Subject: Tancredo to boycott Spanish-language debate




Article published Dec 5, 2007
Tancredo to boycott Spanish-language debate


December 5, 2007


By Stephen Dinan - DES MOINES, Iowa — Rep. Tom Tancredo says his fellow Republican presidential candidates are aiding immigrants in breaking the law by taking part in this weekend's Spanish-language debate in Miami.

"What all my colleagues — what the other candidates are doing — it's encouraging violation of the law because it's saying, 'Don't worry about the fact that you have to know English to earn citizenship,' " said Mr. Tancredo, the only Republican to turn down the invitation from Univision for Sunday night's debate and who said the other candidates' participation was worse than pandering.

For the Colorado congressman, it's a matter of principle: He said the other candidates are contributing to the Balkanization of the country by joining the debate, in which the candidates will speak English, but their answers will be translated into Spanish for broadcast on the nation's largest Spanish-language network.

And it's one of the few areas left to Mr. Tancredo, the original anti-illegal immigration candidate in the Republican field, as he struggles to set himself apart from the others who have adopted many of his stances on the issue — so much so that he said he is being "out-Tancredoed."

Yesterday, he released a stark television ad here that shows photos of bloody bodies, including those of children, lying in a street, victims of gang violence. The ad warns that the violent criminals behind those kinds of attacks are sneaking into the U.S., and calls for deportation of illegal aliens — something most other candidates have shied away from, calling for attrition through better enforcement instead.

The ad blames "gutless politicians" for not acting to secure the borders and remove illegal aliens.

Mr. Tancredo said he has a little money and a short period of time before the caucuses, so he figured he needed to make as much of an impact as he could. But he said he wasn't going for shock value in order to try to regain territory.

"That wasn't the purpose in this," he said. "It helps, but that wasn't on my mind."

Also campaigning in Iowa yesterday was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who accepted endorsements from Tim LaHaye, co-author of the apocalyptic evangelical "Left Behind" series, from his wife Beverly LaHaye, founder of Concerned Women for America, and from two former supporters of Sen. Sam Brownback, the Kansas Republican who ended his bid for the nomination.

Mr. Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor who was governor of Arkansas for 10 years, also accepted the personal endorsements of about five dozen Iowa pastors, part of a network he is building.

Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Tancredo are on differing trajectories. Mr. Huckabee has translated a surprise second-place showing in the Iowa straw poll in August into a lead in the polls here, while Mr. Tancredo does not appear to have improved on his fourth-place showing in August.

Mr. Tancredo said it was a "no-brainer" to reject Univision's invitation, but his decision has been widely debated on the Internet, and some of his supporters said he is missing a chance to take his message where it needs to be heard.

Mr. Tancredo said he expects his voice is being heard this way. "My not being there is probably the strongest statement I can make on this issue," he said.

He also rejected the criticism that he is refusing to address a particular audience, saying this is purely an issue of language. He was the only Republican candidate to accept an invitation to speak to the annual convention of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People this year.

Asked if he would watch the debate from home, he said that wasn't the plan: "Nah, I don't know Spanish."

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