Tancredo for President -- Official Blog

Tancredo's Post-Debate Thoughts

Congressman Tancredo shares his thoughts on the First-In-The-South debate on FOX News. Enjoy.

Tancredo the "break-out candidate of the night"

From National Journal's blog Hotline On Call:

Tom Tancredo had a good night, too, ending the night with a great Jack Bauer line. Maybe -- the break-out candidate of the night.

The Train Home

Congressman Tancredo's flying to Washington, D.C. later this morning. He did such a great job. I'm anxious to look through the media coverage of his performance.

I'm taking the train back. My train leaves around 1:30 AM.

Headin' Back

I've left the Koger Center and I'm headed back to the hotel. I've got a lot of photos and footage which I'll put on the blog as soon as possible.

Post-Debate Spin Room

Here are some pictures from the spin room. The spin room is the place where candidates go after the debate to talk with the media. And A LOT of media wanted to talk with Congressman Tancredo. Around 11:10 PM tonight, Tancredo was on Hannity and Colmes.

Also, I've got some footage that I'm going to be putting up later.

A Quick Recap

You heard it from Tancredo himself. We're the "last, best hope."

Tancredo totally owned this debate.

*** post-debate transcript insertion ***

MR. HUME: Congressman Tancredo, let me give you the last word in this round. Go ahead, sir.

REP. TANCREDO: Well, let me just say that it's almost unbelievable to listen to this in a way. We're talking about -- we're talking about it in such a theoretical fashion. You say that -- that nuclear devices have gone off in the United States, more are planned, and we're wondering about whether waterboarding would be a -- a bad thing to do? I'm looking for "Jack Bauer" at that time, let me tell you. (Laughter, applause.)

And -- and there is -- there is nothing -- if you are talking about -- I mean, we are the last best hope of Western civilization. And so all of the theories that go behind our activities subsequent to these nuclear attacks going off in the United States, they go out the window because when -- when we go under, Western civilization goes under. So you better take that into account, and you better do every single thing you can as president of the United States to make sure, number one, it doesn't happen -- that's right -- but number two, you better respond in a way that makes them fearful of you because otherwise you guarantee something like this will happen.

Global Warming and National Security

He dominated this question. And, yet again, our response sizzles viewers' minds while the commercials play.

*** post-debate transcript insertion ***

MR. GOLER: Thanks.

Congressman Tancredo, the ambassador from the European Union says the United States and Europe bear a special responsibility for global warming because the greenhouse gases causing the problem have been put there since the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. We put most of the stuff up there. Do you agree? And what should we do to deal with the problem, sir?

REP. TANCREDO: Okay. First of all, the whole issue of global warming, for every single scientist that tells you it's happening and that it's our fault -- and they'll stack up to here in this reports -- I can stack up another group of reports that say just the opposite.

I don't believe that -- well, I'll tell you this, I don't know whether or not we are responsible, we the human race, are responsible for global warming.

It certainly could be happening, it certainly could be a natural phenomenon. If it's the latter, of course there isn't much we can do about that. If it's the former, there is something that we can do about it, and I'm all for it, and that is of course to reduce our dependence on petroleum products. If we do that, we automatically reduce the carbon emissions that people claim are causing global warming. And I'm all for doing that, because -- I'll tell you why. It's a national security issue. It just isn't an issue of fight over the science of global warming; it's a national security issue for us to move away from the use of petroleum products when they're coming from countries that want to kill us.

The Gloves are OFF!

This debate tops the last one. The back and forth between candidates is amazing.

The Focus on Immigration

If you pulled up the New York Times or any other major U.S. daily from over five years ago, you would find most of these other candidates now acting "tough" on immigration once acted "soft" and supported amnesty.

The Question We've Waited For

All of a sudden it's the "in" thing for candidates to switch up their immigration view.

Every candidate is now trying to flip flop on immigration and sound "Tancredo" on it.

*** post-debate transcript insertion ***

MR. WALLACE: Thanks, Brit.

Gentlemen, I have a series of questions on immigration, and let me begin with you, Congressman Tancredo.

You have made the fight against illegal immigration the centerpiece of your campaign. I hope you will be as specific as Governor Gilmore was earlier. Do you think that Senator McCain and Mayor Giuliani and Governor Romney are soft on immigration, and if so, why?

REP. TANCREDO: I do. And of course you can look at the bills that they've sponsored, in this case Senator McCain in particular. He sponsored a bill that -- a little bit ago -- would have given amnesty to everybody who's here illegally. It would have required Mexico to -- required us to actually consult with Mexico as to whether or not we would build the fence along our southern border.

The issue of immigration is, of course, enormously important to me. And I see so many conversions around this room tonight on a lot of things, and this is -- I'm beginning to hint that -- or I mean I get the hint here there's conversions happening on this issue also; conversions on guns, conversions on abortion, conversions on immigration. You know, it's beginning to truly sound like a Baptist tent rival meeting here. And I am glad to see conversions. I'm glad they happen. But I must tell you, I trust those conversions when they happen on the road to Damascus and not on the road to Des Moines. (Laughter.)

And this is really the problem that we are -- this is the problem that we're facing here because this issue of immigration is one of the most serious public policy issues we face. And if we pursue this path toward amnesty -- (bell rings) -- it's a disaster for the country.

Oh YEAH

Immigration round? Let's do this.

Picture Perfect

Awesome. He answered and then a commercial. So it's the last thing on our minds.

*** post-debate transcript insertion ***

MR. GOLER: Congressman Tancredo, there's a lot of talk about the budget deficit and reducing that. But interest on the national debt is $400 billion. That's almost as much as the Defense budget. Do you consider that a problem? Would you reduce it, and how fast?

REP. TANCREDO: Yeah, it's absolutely a problem. And you know, reducing the national debt requires us, of course, to have some sort of fiscal discipline. Now this is amazing, to sit here and listen to people talk about fiscal discipline and then recognize that some of the things that we have done, this Congress has done, and some of the -- and votes that have been cast in this Congress and in the past several Congresses.

Republicans, we have lot the mantle of fiscal responsibility. It is incredible to listen to people talk about the fact that we have to, you know reimpose that. Well, of course we do.

But did they vote for the No Child Left Behind bill, something of course the federal government has absolutely no involvement with? Did they vote for the Medicare/prescription drug bill, a $400 billion to some trillion dollars that we're not sure exactly where that's going to lie? What's the federal government role there? Did they vote for that? And then if they did, how in the world can you come back here and say, "We've got to be careful about spending and get it under control"?

There are a million programs that we operate and that we pay for with the federal government that are far beyond the bounds of the Constitution. Follow the Constitution and you'll know what is -- what's necessary. And that's the defense of the country. That's it for the federal government.

Tancredo 1-0

Tancredo just dominated his first response on Iraq. I hope you watched it.

*** post-debate transcript insertion ***

MR. WALLACE: Congressman Tancredo, you are one of those congressional Republicans who talks about disengaging -- the word you use -- from Iraq.

REP. TANCREDO: Yes.

MR. WALLACE: You opposed the troop surge. You have talked about November as a timeframe for beginning to pull some of our troops back from the frontlines. Are you in effect giving our enemies a timetable for retreat?

REP. TANCREDO: I think that we have to understand that we are going to be in Iraq or at least in the region for a long time. Our national interests dictate that. We are not going to be removing our troops from the area. We can't, for all the reasons that have been identified here.

The question is, in what capacity we will be there and what capacity those troops will be there? Will they be a constabulary force, which I do not believe they should be? Will they be a supporting force for the Iraqi government and for the Iraqi forces themselves, which I believe they should be?

The president is the one, in his state of the war message to the nation, that said, "I am establishing a benchmark of November," he said, "and by November, the Iraqi government will be in control of all 18 provinces of Iraq." I believe that that is a good benchmark to set. I will support him in that effort, and I will support our troops while they are in the field in every single way I can. That is my responsibility as a member of Congress, by the way. It is not to general the war, it is not to micromanage it, it is to support the troops that are in harm's way.

Countdown in Columbia

Here we go! The final seconds...

Congressman Tancredo is ready.

ALSO -- FOX News Channel allows you to text message the winner. "The number to which you can send your text-message is 36988. It will accept your vote between 9 p.m. EDT and 12:30 a.m. EDT." The code for Tancredo is R9.

Here are the instructions on how to text message:

1. On your cell phone, select the text-messaging (SMS) option.

2. Create a new text message.

3. Address the message to 36988.

4. In the body of the message, simply type the code R9.

5. Send the message.

The Calm Before the Storm

Here are two photos from the spin room, where the candidates go after the debate to talk to the media. As you can see, it's all quiet:

30 Minutes TO GO!

I'm in the holding room with Congressman Tancredo right now for last minute preparation. The holding room is that private room behind the debate stage.

Remember: I'm live blogging the entire debate from 9 PM - 10:30 PM so check back.

FairTax Rally Tonight

In about 40 minutes, at 6 PM, Congressman Tancredo will be speaking at the FairTax Rally.

And then to the Koger Center!

The Walk Through

We just went on a walk through. Basically, we went on the stage and checked out other parts of the Koger center. Also, Congressman Tancredo was interviewed outside the Koger Center for some sound bites.

Driving to the Debate

We're on the way to get a debate walk through at the Koger Center. Congressman Tancredo is in the police escort in front of me.

Morning Photos

I'm driving with Dan Huff, our policy guy, to the Koger Center (where the debate is held) this morning to check it out. Here are some pictures I took:

En Route to Columbia

We're approaching Raleigh, North Carolina. Here's a map of the train stops:

Takin' the Train to Columbia

Congressman Tancredo's flying into Columbia later tonight from Iowa.

Meanwhile, I'm taking the train from Washington, D.C. to Columbia. I'm traveling, once again, with Alan Moore, the press secretary.

Headin' to South Carolina!

Wow! The time between the last debate and the next debate tomorrow has gone by fast. I'm leaving for South Carolina later today. And remember: I'm live blogging it to give you exclusive behind-the-scenes multimedia from the campaign.

Live Blogging the First-In-The-South Debate

That's right! I'm going to live blog the next debate like I did the last one on May 3rd. I'll give you exclusive access to exactly what's going on with stories, footage, and photos. The second, or First-In-The-South, presidential debate is at the University of South Carolina in Columbia on May 15th. It will be on the FOX News Channel. Here's an article on it:

The 90-minute debate will air from 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET. The event, sponsored by the South Carolina Republican Party and held at the Kroger Center for the Arts at USC's Columbia campus, will be moderated by "Special Report" anchor Brit Hume. Questions will be posed by two panelists — "FOX News Sunday" host Chris Wallace and White House correspondent Wendell Goler.