June 08, 2007 04:49 AM UTC

Tancredo goes cannibal

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• by: Tancredo Watch

Well, maybe a bit overstated… But what do you call it when Tom Tancredo proudly announces that he is basically putting his presidential campaign on life support and instead launching a new website and nationwide campaign specifically targeting FELLOW REPUBLICANS for defeat? Here’s a short clip:

Tancredo makes no bones about it. Forget about the Democrats, they get a free pass from him. Instead he’s going to do everything he can to cannibalize the already-weakened Republican party, finding opponents to run in primaries against any Republican incumbents who dare to vote for the current immigration bill.

In other words, he will devote the rest of his political life (probably significantly shortened by this latest stunt) to fracturing and weakening the GOP even more than it already is.

This is so obviously counterproductive to Tancredo getting Republican support at home that it seems to be a strong signal that he (1) doesn’t intend to run for re-election in 2008 and (2) doesn’t intend to run for Senate in 2010. You don’t go postal on your fellow party members and have them forget about it a couple of years later. If Tancredo does run for re-election in the 6th in 2008, Tom Wiens or other primary challengers could probably garner significant support from angry Republicans across the country fed up with Tancredo’s new campaign.

But it’s a nice way for Tancredo to finesse the obvious – his presidential campaign is doing even worse than his constantly-downgraded goals can keep up with. First he was shooting for 3rd place in Iowa, then 5th… Now he can’t say “anything better than last place” with a straight face, so instead he’s changing the subject.

Tancredo’s latest antics almost make you feel sympathy for Karl Rove.