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January 18, 2007
Tancredo's Disturbing Ties - Updated
Rep. Tom Tancredo annouced he was running for president, becuase he felt there was a "void" in the current field:
After spending the weekend in Iowa, where the earliest presidential nominating caucus is to be held in mid-January 2008, Tancredo, 61, said he decided there's a need for a candidate with traditional Republican beliefs of small government, reduced spending and conservative social values.Today, the American Spectator calls into question that history, given some of the people Tancredo has affiliated himself with, and taken money from."It appears to me that there is a void, which I think I can fill, (being) a true conservative with a conservative history," Tancredo said. "I believe I can play a role, and I believe I can be viable."
According to campaign finance reports, one of Tancredo's biggest financial backers has been the family of Dr. John Tanton, the founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Wall Street Journal editorial-page features writer Jason Riley wrote a devastating piece about the organization back in 2004, in which the group's pro-abortion and pro-eugenics roots were revealed.True conservative values, indeed.Tanton is also one of the most prominent conservative financiers of Planned Parenthood in the United States, having helped found in the mid-1960s the first Planned Parenthood chapter in northern Michigan.
Tancredo appears to have embraced FAIR's extreme and repugnant policy positions, having accepted more than $20,000 from the FAIR PAC and personal donations from Tanton between 1996 and 2006. Over the past ten years, according to Federal Election Commission reports, FAIR has provided more than $15,000 to Tancredo campaigns and PACs. Tanton has given Tancredo $7,000, while donating $28,000 to FAIR's political action arm.
An old proverb says a man is known by the company he keeps. This puts Tancredo in an interesting position - given Tanton's status in the anti-immigration movement, can Tancredo repudiate him for his anti-abortion views without alienating those who consider immigration the most important issue of our time? An additional question would be whether Tancredo knew of Tanton's extremist beliefs on abortion and zero population growth and agreed with them (Edit: I don't think he does, btw), or whether he compromised one principle to fund (quite well, I should add) another?
Will any of the Republicans who consider Tancredo the only "real conservative candidate" even bother asking him these questions?
For the record, here are John and Mary Tanton's political contributions over the past few election cycles. Here is an article detailing some of Tanton's associations over the years.
Conservatives often ask liberal politicians to answer for the sometimes extreme views of their biggest supporters. I don't think it's too much to ask that conservatives do the same with those in the Republican party.
UPDATE - Redstate has more on Tancredo and FAIR.
UPDATE II - This post seems to have drawn some attention at Hot Air, so hello to anyone who's visiting from that site.
Posted by slublog at January 18, 2007 12:00 AM
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