ShareThisTom Tancredo's decision to leave the 2008 presidential race was always a question of when rather than if. Even so, his departure, announced Thursday, should serve as a lesson for future hopefuls who are thinking of running for high elective office.The Republican congressman from Colorado never gained traction for two big reasons: His incendiary rhetoric and his single-issue agenda.Tancredo refused to back away from statements -- beginning as early as 2005 -- suggesting that it would be appropriate for the United States to respond to a terrorist attack from Islamists by leveling Muslim holy sites. More recently, his campaign ran ads hinting that any candidate who didn't share his hard-line views on illegal immigration might be abetting terrorists who sneaked across the borders.His tone was never expansive enough to attract voters who weren't obsessed with and angered by illegal immigration.That played into Tancredo's second failing: He was a one-trick candidate. Yes, his focus on immigration did force lawmakers to give border enforcement the attention it deserves.Yet, as he acknowledged Thursday, the congressman had waged this campaign for a decade, years before his long-shot presidential run began.Voters are largely drawn to political leaders who inspire hope rather than incite fear. So it's no surprise that Tancredo flamed out so.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Tancredo bows out
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