Posted on 07/23/2007 2:33:17 PM PDT by SittinYonder
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo has demanded that fellow GOP White House hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback apologize for questioning Tancredo's commitment to outlawing abortion.
Tancredo, a congressman from Colorado, and Brownback, a Kansas senator, are vying for support from GOP conservatives who influence the Iowa caucuses.
Brownback's campaign has been making phone calls in Iowa that criticize Tancredo for taking campaign money from a Planned Parenthood backer. It has also posted a press release detailing the accusations.
"Say no to Tom Tancredo and his Planned Parenthood friend and help end abortion in America," the caller says, according to a script confirmed by Brownback's campaign.
"Congressman Tom Tancredo has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Dr. John Tanton, a founder of a major Planned Parenthood network," said Brownback's Iowa communications chief John Rankin on the candidate's Web site.
"Federal Election Commission records show that Tancredo's presidential campaign, political action committee, and congressional re-election campaign have accepted thousands of dollars personally from Tanton, and thousands more from a political action committee connected to Tanton," Rankin said.
"Given Tanton's obvious ties to Planned Parenthood, Tom Tancredo should publicly denounce his ties to Tanton and should donate all previously accepted funds to an Iowa crisis pregnancy center," Rankin said.
"How can pro-life Iowans believe Tom Tancredo's commitment to life when he has accepted money from such a prominent abortion supporter?"
Tancredo demanded an apology.
"Sam [Brownback] and I have been friends for several years and he is well aware of my lifelong commitment to the unborn. Yet he has approved the use of despicable and deceitful campaign tactics in an effort to deliberately mislead the voters of Iowa concerning my record and my commitment to life," Tancredo said.
"I call on Sen. Brownback to cease with the maliciously misleading push calls intended to harm me and apologize."
Tancredo's campaign also accused the senator of trying to divert attention away from illegal immigration, Tancredo's main issue. Unlike Tancredo, Brownback has supported giving legal status, under certain conditions, to illegal immigrants.
"Americans from all walks of life, from all racial and religious backgrounds, and from all political persuasions support me because they believe as I do that illegal immigration is the greatest domestic threat we face as a nation and they know I will never resolve this issue by giving amnesty to illegal aliens," Tancredo said.
Tancredo's campaign said the Coloradoan has an "A" rating from the National Right To Life Committee, an abortion opponent.
On Gun Control:
”I fully and completely support the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The failure of the ACLU to defend this right, and of federal courts to make the second amendment binding on the states, as they have made the first amendment and most others, testifies to their intellectual hypocrisy.”
-Tom Tancredo
Click for more on Tancredo on the issues.
FREEPMAIL ME TO BE ADDED TO THIS TANCREDO ’08 PING LIST
He has based his campaign platform around illegal immigration and describes reform as crucial to the nation's survival.
But Tancredo, a former junior high school civics teacher who served as a U.S. secretary of education regional representative, also has strong views on public education. In Congress, Tancredo voted against the No Child Left Behind Act.
He supports school vouchers - certificates that allow parents to pay for their children's education at a school of their choice rather than public school - and increased overall parental involvement.
He supports tax credits for families who opt to send their children to private, parochial or home schools.
"I believe with all my heart that choice is an important thing in almost any endeavor," Tancredo said.
OK, I agree Brownback’s team should not have drawn the inference that Tom was bad on pro-life issues.
why is Tom taking money from a planned parenthood supporter?
Brownback’s campaign ended with his waffling on the illegal immigration issue. He’s had a history of being weak on the borders, and American can’t afford someone like him in the White House.
I don’t support either of them for POTUS, but I think the Brownback ad is dishonest.
I suspect if we dig a little we could find one pro-choice donor who supports every conservative candidate, for one reason or another.
I'm not a Tancredo supporter, but I am against any misleading info on a candidate, and I have to speak up on this.. This statement is guilt by third degree of separation. Tancredo didn't take money from Planned Parenthood.. someone who gave money to Planned Parenthood also gave to Tancredo. This passes no association with them to Tancredo and bridging that gap is not an accurate representation.
I love Tom Tancredo but I personally would like his explanation why he’s taken money from a Planned Parenthood scab because if he is, it’s BLOOD MONEY !!!
How can any conservative disagree with that?
Tancredo should denounce that racist leftist scum Tanton and give those donations to charity.
It's just bizarre that Tancredo's being pigheaded about this. He started off saying, gee, I don't know every single person who gives me money. Well, now he knows for sure about the infamous Dr. Tanton, who is very well known, and I can't believe TT didn't know he was a donor. The guy -- Tanton, not Tancredo -- really is a sick SOB: he's a radical lib who's all about environmentalism and population reduction, so he doesn't care whether it happens by killing babies, forced sterilization, thinning out the population by culling the inferior, disabled, etc -- or immigration reduction.
How can Tancredo, who has an excellent record on Life otherwise, obstinately continue to turn a blind eye to that piece of filth?
Brownback, on the other hand, doesn’t have to worry about that tainted “nativist” money because he won't be seeing any of it.
Tanton isn't just some Planned Parenthood donor.
He's been a prominent leader for decades in a series of radical fringe movements advocating abortion, sterilization, coercive government policies on family size (think China's One Child policy), immigration reduction (no, he doesn't care about illegal immigration, he's against brown people coming here and breeding), and a whole host of disgusting anti-conservative movements.
It's all part and parcel of a radical eugenics/environmentalist philosophy where they believe they need to reduce world population and cull the human race of undesirables.
Sorry but taking money from an abortion advocate leaves Tancredo open to the same criticism that Romney and Giuliani have been taking on the issue. In the zero sum game of politics leaving a door open for your opponents Democrat or Republican WILL be used against you !!!
Ha,ha, well first of all there’s a better chance of the world ending then of Brownback getting the nomination but to answer your question I see it more along the lines of as a candidate if you say or do something (taking campaign money) that leaves you open to a political “shot” by an opponent,is there a good chance you’ll get nailed? ABSOLUTELY !!!
Romney and Giuliani both have supported abortion, to some degree, in their past.
Tancredo, OTOH, has demonstrated a consistent record of being pro-life. You're equating a consistent pro-life position to two people who on one level or another have supported abortion based on a campaign donation?
I'm all about being a purist, but your position is insanity. Tancredo's voting record proves beyond a doubt that the man votes his conscience and votes consistently conservative ... if Hillary Clinton or Al Gore want to contribute to Tancredo's campaign, no problem for me -
I know Tancredo's vote won't be bought.
Sounds like something the Rudy boosters used to do to conservative candidates.
Brownback himself was once pro-abortion. Tancredo has never been pro-abortion. Brownback's campaign is sputtering and circling the sink drain.
LOL. In the political process, you don't know where the money orginally came from.
This is total desperation here by the Brownback folks.
One way or another, that money would end up working for evil instead of good.
I’m not faulting Tom for it, I guess what I should have asked is why is a planned parenthood supporter giving money to Tom Tancredo?
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