November 13, 2007 09:16 PM UTC

Tancredo Tries to Scare Voters Into Supporting Him

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• by: Colorado Pols

In an effort to boost his Presidential campaign, Rep. Tom Tancredo has gone the scary route with his latest campaign ad – as in, try to scare people into voting for you.

As M.E. Sprengelmeyer explains:

On Monday he unveiled a new television ad that shows a hooded man slip into a peaceful shopping mall, set down a black backpack – not far from where children are playing – and then, boom!

Interspersed with images of a bloody body and the destruction from recent terrorist attacks in London, Spain and Russia, it argues that this could be “the price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our border against those who come to kill.”

But one Iowa political analyst called it such a “brute” appeal for fear, that it’s not likely to help Tancredo’s long-shot campaign here in the nation’s first presidential caucus state, nor prompt any of the other candidates to respond, as Tancredo told reporters Monday was his real goal.

“This is just blatant, raw fear images, and they’ve never worked in the United States, period,” said Bruce Gronbeck, a communications professor from the University of Iowa who teaches a course on politics in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

You can watch the ad here.