Rain-soaked Congressman Tom Tancredo speaks to a group gathered on the shore of beautiful Lake Webster in Franklin, NH back in June, 2005
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In June of 2005, I had the pleasure of attending a small gathering featuring Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. With his announcement of the formation of an exploratory committee to consider a possible run at the Republican nomination, I thought I’d reprint a portion of a column I wrote back in June of ’05…
This past Saturday I had the honor to spend an evening with U.S. Rep Tom Tancredo of Colorado at the beautiful home of former Franklin mayor Tony Giunta and his wife Mariska. Together with local neighbors, politicians, and a contingent of regular co-hosts of Niel Young’s “Advocates” program, I had the opportunity to listen to the Congressman discuss several of the issues for which he is best known: illegal immigration and what he refers to as “the cult of multiculturalism”..Citing his dissatisfaction with the status of immigration reforms and enforcement, particularly now in the post 9/11 era, Congressman Tancredo has begun a strategy of traveling to the early presidential primary states with the hope of publicizing the issue enough to make it part of some future presidential hopeful’s campaign platform.“Because you here in New Hampshire can get up close to those asking for your vote,” he told the gathering, “you can ask them questions. New Hampshire is unique in that way. Ask them about illegal immigration. Make them address it.”
He informed us that “this issue is bubbling. Congress is starting to listen. The beautiful thing about our republic is that it responds to its people.”.I believe that the question of illegal immigration is important to more ordinary people in America than most mainstream politicians realize. The good news for us is that Congressman Tancredo has long been carrying the fight to fix our nation’s broken borders and the resulting broken immigration system. When talking the numbers of illegal entrants, the congressman ominously noted that, “along with them are coming other people. Very bad people.” Given the current wartime environment, this obviously becomes a national security issue. What we ultimately need according to Tancredo is a “safe, secure, and legal way for people to come into America.”.If no major Republican candidate takes up this issue, Tancredo says he may have to make a presidential run himself in order to give it the full and public airing he feels it deserves. He readily admits his odds of success in such an endeavor would be overwhelming, but he would do it anyway because of his commitment to his cause. Who knows, there are a lot of regular folks out there concerned about this subject. Stay tuned…
As I noted, that was from back in 2005. Fast-forwarding to the present, I am pleased to announce that Congressman Tancredo will be joining the GraniteGrok gang on our radio program, "Meet the New Press" this Saturday, January 20th (1490 WEMJ 2PM-4PM EST). If you aren’t within earshot of the broadcast area, that’s OK because you will be able to download the interview on our podcast page within a day or so.
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GraniteGrok blogger / "Meet The New Press" co-host Doug Lambert has a picture snapped with Colorado Congressman and now possible presidential aspirant Tom Tancredo at a gathering in June of 2005
