Welcome To The Party Rep. Tancredo

I will admit that we did miss this story yesterday. Not that it is really all that much of a story, but Representative Tancredo has finally come down from his high horse:

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has reluctantly come to the conclusion that he will have to vote for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose immigration reform bill Tancredo blasted as amnesty.

"Sometimes I say to myself, 'Can I really do this?'" Tancredo said of voting for McCain, according to the Rocky Mountain News. "And then you listen to Obama or Hillary and say, 'Yeah, I have to.'"

At a debate last October Tancredo sounded less sure of such an idea.

"You know, I've said I don't know how many times, that I am absolutely tired and sick and tired of being forced to go to the polls and say I'm going to make this choice between the lesser of two evils. I really don't intend to do that again. I am hoping, of course, that whoever we nominate will be the principled flag carrier for the Republican Party. But if that is not the case, no, then I will not support them."

Tancredo told the News he couldn't vote for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, who has similar views as he does on immigration, because Barr has "a blind spot on radical Islam."

We would like to congratulate Representative Tancredo on two points. First, the last point: Bob Barr does have a serious blindspot on radical Islam. That particular point is the fact he is a vocal critic of US military operations in the Theater of Iraq, and has called for a withdrawal of troops. An effort to take us off offense in this theater, coupled with the fact that al-Qaeda in Iraq is so close to defeat that to give them breathing room right now will only energize their efforts to hurt us again.

The second congratulatory "dap" goes to the fact he understands that while he is not thrilled with John McCain, he will support the Republican nominee. Why is that a big deal? Because it proves our point that as the general election goes on, the more the Republican base sees and hears from Senator Obama, the more they will understand the gravity of this campaign, and set aside the petty details.

That is not to say that his stance on immigration from last year, or the Gang of 14, or McCain/Feingold are petty issues. On the contrary, those issues do matter. But before you point your finger at the screen and say "A-Ha!" please bear in mind that we were among the most vocal critics of John McCain. We do not like him, and the only way we will trust him is if we keep him under a microscope. Bipartisanship has its moments, but they do not encompass every issue of every day. But it is important for people to see the stark contrasts between the two men.

In one, you have a grossly naive neophyte, who has ties to questionable and radical individuals who is espousing some conglomerate of liberal socialism. We could even go so far, based on his wife's statements on the campaign trail, that he supports a sort of "Liberal Fascism.". (Trust us, read the book.)

In the other you have a man who served this nation in the highest capacity. He has served the interests of fiscal restraint and lower taxes. He supports the people's rights as outlined in the Constitution (except for a couple of specific issues). And he will not take us off of our war-footing against the forces of al-Qaeda and radical Islam, in general.

Representative Tancredo finally gets it. Let us hope the Republican base will get it, too, and before November 4th.

Marcie