Tancredo continues to force his passion for the immigration issue, and a new term has been coined, "Tancredo-ism". As Ryan Lizza states in his essay on the "Republican's Immigration Frenzy", Tancredo-ism is a hard line on the immigration issue, and it has been forced by a variety of factors. Illegal immigration is finally becoming apparent in states such as Iowa and South Carolina, thereby bringing it to the forefront of their concerns. In addition, candidates have been trying to prove their conservative stances, and positions on immigration have become more and more conservative.
Tom Tancredo has the luxury of this recent craze being named after him, simply because of his ultra-conservative, nativist stance on immigration. This was supported recently when he refused to attend a Spanish-language debate focused upon those possible voters who do not speak english. The debate was a way to present the candidates to the hispanic population, but because of their inability to speak english, Tancredo refused to attend, reinforcing his nativist views. He believes that "If they can't understand the English language, then, of course, they shouldn't be citizens," continuing. "They shouldn't be voting. And we shouldn't be pandering to them." His tough line is hardly tread by other candidates, and it remains to be seen how this repealment of hispanic voters will play out for his campaign.
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While Tancredo may not want the Hispanic vote and decided to use the debate as an opportunity to take a stand against immigration, it will be interesting to see whether he gains or losses other constituents based on his actions. I would guess he will lose more support than he gained because he will alienate any voters that were on the fence; while those voters extremely conservative on this issue have no other candidate with such extreme views to turn to. His refusal to participate in the Spanish debate leads one to wonder whether as a President, Tancredo, would neglect to hear or consider other views on multi-faceted issues.
You can tell Tancredo actually might have based part of his campaign platform on personal beliefs, especially because he is so anti-Hispanic. The Latino vote will be especially important during this election, given the rise of major immigration issues. Estimates on the necessary Latino support reach as high as 30% for a candidate to win the White House. Of course they are somewhat inflated, but it makes you wonder why Tancredo doesn't soften his stance a little. Coming from the Giuliani side - his attempt at conservatism may backlash because he is 'pretending' to be anti-Latino, which could be the final straw to breakdown his campaign.
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