Det råder ingen tvekan om att illegal invandring blivit en av huvudfrågorna i valrörelsen, åtminstone på republikanernas sida.
Tancredo är en av kandidaterna som drivit frågan mest hårdfört. I en intervju med Washington Monthly förklarar han sin strategi och avslöjar att han inte har som ambition att bli president.
I have a friend from when I was in the state legislature many years ago who had once worked for a union. And he said that you would go in and scream for red revolution and settle for an increase in the pension plan. To a large extent, that is what is happening. I have to set the bar as high as I can. I’m being completely candid with you.
If I had actually set out to become president, then of course it would be ludicrous for me to do it in the way I’m doing it. I don’t have that as my goal; I never have. The only way I can get on that plane and go to Iowa or New Hampshire and spend night after night in hotels in places you’ve never even heard of is by saying, ”Think about why you’re doing this, Tom. It is because the issue is important. You are the person that is advancing it.” I have the luxury of saying, ”I will set the goalposts as far as I can down the field because then I will have a better chance of getting the game played on my side.” In one recent debate, we spent the first thirty-five minutes on immigration. That has never happened before. It’s wonderful—I’ve got the two top guys attacking each other. Romney can spend a great deal of money, and he is enormously articulate, and the fact that he will take on Giuliani on this issue—I have to tell you, I don’t get many questions, I stand there like a bookend for most of the debates, but it’s still enormously gratifying.
[tags]usa, tom tancredo, invandring[/tags]