Oops, make that Tancredo. Tancredo should be able to score points from this by pointing out that Fred's presidential proposal is to do what he's already done from his weak position of power in Congress.
If immigration is a hot button issue, we don't want Fred as our nominee. He was joined at the hip with Spencer Abraham who except for Ted Kennedy was the biggest enemy of immigration sanity. Diane Feinstein will campaign for the Democrats against Thompson's weak immigration record and she will have the authority to do since Thompson voted with Abraham against her amendment to reduce chain migration.
The "listen to what I say now, not how I voted back then" plea will not fly and it will undermine his "look how I voted on abortion, not how I lobbied for abortionists" argument.
Kris Koback is Thompson’s advisor on immigration matters. That is going to make a world of difference on the Thompson campaign on that issue. I have similar reservations to your’s about Abraham, until I learned about Kris being appointed.