The Future of the GOP: Tom Tandredo

An article in The Hill Thursday caught my eye, the bulk of which I am pasting below:

Rep. Tancredo weighing governor’s race

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who announced his retirement from Congress last year before his insurgent bid for president flamed out, is weighing a run for governor in Colorado.

...[I]n Congress in 2003, the Colorado congressional delegation had seven Republicans and two Democrats. It now has five Democrats and four Republicans. If Democrats sweep all the offices they have a chance of winning in next week’s election -- including the open Senate seat and the 4th congressional district, where Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) is vulnerable -- the tables will turn on Republicans. Those victories would leave the Colorado delegation with seven Democrats and two Republicans.

[Former Rep.] Beauprez said he was somewhat surprised that Tancredo is talking about running for governor. He said when Tancredo asked for a meeting, he suspected his fellow Republican would want to talk about challenging Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), who is also up in 2010.

Tancredo has often sparred with Salazar, particularly on immigration, an issue on which Tancredo has risen to national fame. Anti-illegal immigration sentiment also fueled Tancredo’s run for president in 2008. Presumably, Tancredo could do more to influence the debate on immigration policy as senator than governor, but Salazar is very strong politically.

As most political watchers know, Tom Tancredo has been the leader of the anti-immigrant faction in Congress over the last several years. A strong opponent of the comprehensive immigration reform package which died in Congress a couple of years ago, Tancredo is a very harsh critic of illegal immigration to the point that he has been called an extremist by many, a label I think is very fair. Tancredo ran for President in the GOP primary, but dropped out early after he was unable to drum up much money or support. He is retiring from Congress in January.

I wanted to bring up this piece to highlight yet more evidence of the pitiful state of the Republican Party today. In a nation where the Hispanic population -- whether legal or illegal -- is only growing, Tancredo is probably not one of the figures the party should like to showcase as ones its stars.

Yet, Tancredo appears poised to run for higher office in 2010, for either governor or senator. Personally, I think he would be more likely to run for Senate. As the article notes, Ritter won his first term in 2006 by 17 points, whereas Ken Salazar won by only 51-47 in 2004. Plus, going to the Senate would give Tancredo an even bigger platform in the nation's capital to go after what he perceives as the illegal immigrant menace. Not to mention Salazar is Hispanic and he supports moderate immigration policy, so from Tancredo's perspective, a victory over the incumbent would probably send a great message in support of his views.

Note above that in 2003, the Colorado congressional delegation was 5-to-2 in favor of Republicans. Today, it is 4-3 Democratic-controlled, and there is a very good likelihood that it will be 5-2 Dem on January 3 -- a complete reversal in the span of six years. Not to mention that the state will soon have two Democratic U.S. Senators and a Democratic-controlled legislature (in 2004, both senators were Republicans, as was the legislature). Yet, Tom Tancredo looks poised to make a statewide run, oblivious to the political changes in his state that have happened while he has been in office himself.

Tancredo's potential candidacy is yet another piece of evidence of the precarious state of the Republican Party. The GOP is poised to sustain enormous losses across the country next week, but we are already hearing from top conservatives that these losses are the result of the party not being conservative enough. I expect these proclamations to get stronger and stronger after next week, and as a result, we are going to see more Tom Tancredos running for office, not less. This is not the recipe for success in America 2008 and beyond.