Freedom Folks: Gentlemen Start Your (Smear) Engines!

Source: spectator

The "conservative" American Spectator has a hit piece on Tom Tancredo out posted ever so nobly by the "Washington Prowler," in other anonymously...(I'm printing the whole thing as to deny even one click)

Tancredo's Dubious Allies

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is expected to announce the formation of an exploratory committee to seek the candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. "He's going to paint himself as a mainstream conservative," says the staffer for one of Tancredo's colleagues in the House of Representatives. "But the folks he's associating with are not part of the mainstream."

Tancredo, who came to national prominence on the basis of his tough stands on immigration reform, an issue he has pressed for quite some time. "There is more to Tancredo than just immigration," says another House staffer. "If he does this, he's going to try to appeal to a broader, socially conservative audience."

In fact, it's not clear Tancredo is in line with the mainstream, social conservative wing of the GOP he seeks to align himself with. 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.

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.

"There are others out there who are prepared to be tough on immigration policy," says a consultant for Republican House member from a western state. "Republicans and social conservatives need to be asking Tancredo some tough questions. I don't believe he's a pro-life candidate, not by a long shot, and the people he's associated with, who back him, are not part of the mainstream. To disavow these people now is just too late."

Okay well, rathan than smear Tom, though I'm sure the "Washington Prowler" has good reason to use this tactic, it seems the fair thing to do wold be to look at his voting record.

From issues2000

* Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)

* Voted YES on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005)

* Voted YES on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)

* Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)

* Voted YES on forbidding human cloning for reproduction medical research. (Feb 2003)

* Voted YES on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)

* Voted YES on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)

* Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)

* Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortions. (Apr 2000)

* Voted YES on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (Jun 1999)

* Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)

A 0% by NARAL? And we're supposed to worry whether he's pro-life? This isn't even a good smear, a good smear would contain a smidgen of truth. Expect to see lots and lots more of this.

Tom may not be "in line with the mainstream, social conservative wing of the GOP," but then again I'm not sure how much I'm in line with the "mainstream." Tom is however very much inline with people's concerns about this country. Like I said, be prepared for Tom Tancredo be de debbil stories to begin pouring out of elite opinion central as the slave owners realize that their salad days may be coming to an end.