Tancredo backed Romney to buck Huckabee

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., departs a press conference after announcing his withdrawal from the presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007. (Joshua Lott / NYT)

Tom Tancredo said he bowed out just two weeks before the Iowa presidential caucuses because he is determined to advance his cause of halting illegal immigration, but the religion question hanging over the Republican primaries may prove larger than his signature issue.

In an interview with The Denver Post, the five-term congressman from Littleton said he threw his support behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who shares his passion, because he feared Mike Huckabee might take Iowa and win the first presidential primary in New Hampshire.

"I certainly didn't want to peel off any votes that could have gone to someone else," Tancredo said.

Whether Tancredo's endorsement translates into a bounce in support for Romney come the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses remains unclear, given the extraordinary impact both candidates' faith and illegal immigration have among voters there, polls and experts said.

"(Tancredo's endorsement) is important because it provides a psychological boost to Romney when he needs one," said Des Moines Register political columnist David Yepsen. "It will prompt the Republican caucus- goer to give a second look at Romney."

Deb Miller, a campaign worker for Republican presidential hopeful, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Co., wipes a tear from her eye as he announces that he will withdraw from the 2008 presidential race and throw his support behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

But whether the endorsement translates into more votes for Romney remains to be seen.

"Iowa voters," Yepsen said, "historically don't just shift. They remain undecided for a time."

Tancredo's loyal following, though small, could help Romney chip away at the sudden lead Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher, has gained there. Huckabee's rise and the absence of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Iowa has made the political race there a two-man event.

And though Romney strived to erase doubts about his Mormon faith in an address earlier this month, the former Massachusetts governor was 8 percentage points behind Huckabee in an ABC/Washington Post poll of likely GOP caucus-goers released Thursday. The poll, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, concluded that religion was the driving factor in lifting Huckabee into the lead.

The poll found 2 percent supported Tancredo and 5 percent remained undecided.

The poll highlighted the importance of immigration in the debate, however, placing it as the most important issue among Iowa Republicans.

And only last month, a Des Moines Register poll of likely Republican caucus attendees gave Tancredo 6 percent of the vote, while Huckabee led Romney by just 5 points.

One of Colorado's top GOP strategists, Dick Wadhams, who's also the state party's chairman, saw Thursday's endorsement as "highly significant."

"I think Tancredo is the kind of candidate who enjoys some very deep loyalty from those who support him," Wadhams said. "I can't help but think this could give a little bump for Romney."

At the news conference announcing his decision not to run, Tancredo said he had met with Romney that morning, which he said helped "clarify in my own mind" whom to support.

While praising Romney's record and commitments on the immigration issue, Tancredo said some Republican presidential candidates — including Huckabee and Arizona Sen. John McCain — had "abysmal" records of "encouraging and even inviting illegal immigration."

He sided with Romney because he could win and because he "has a solid record to match his rhetoric" on immigration, he said.

Tancredo said he and the former Massachusetts governor agree on the need to secure the borders and to prosecute employers who hire illegal immigrants. He said both would send illegal immigrants in the U.S. back home.

But a Romney campaign spokesman told the Washington Post on Thursday, "The governor has stated he doesn't believe it's practical to deport 12 million illegal immigrants."

"Congressman Tancredo ran a spirited campaign focused on issues that are important to many Americans. I thank him for his support," Romney said in a statement. "While we don't agree on every issue, we agree on the need to keep America strong. I look forward to working with him and other Republicans to achieve that end."

Critics have pointed out that Romney ordered state troopers who encountered illegal immigrants to cooperate with federal authorities only near the end of his term, when he was preparing his presidential bid. He also was subjected to negative headlines earlier this year when it was reported that a landscaping company he hired had employed undocumented workers.

Despite those criticisms, Tancredo obviously trusts Romney, said Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., the head of the House's immigration caucus that Tancredo started.

"If Tom is endorsing him, Tom believes to his core that Romney is the best on this issue," Bilbray said. "It's nothing short of extraordinary. The governor has really plucked a big plum on this one."

But some political experts questioned the endorsement.

"What I find bizarre is that Romney's position on immigration seems so clearly contrived, adopted only when he began his presidential campaign and at odds with his whole history," said political analyst Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

"Admittedly, Tancredo would not be attuned to McCain, Giuliani or Huckabee, but what about (former Sen. Fred) Thompson?"

"He may be doing it believing that Romney is the most likely nominee, and his endorsement might help keep Romney's feet to the fire on immigration," Ornstein added.

Romney was likely "the best of the alternatives," for Tancredo, said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University political-science professor.

Zelizer said Tancredo might also hope to help shape Romney's positions further if he gets elected, and might hope that Romney would appoint him to an administration job to burnish his conservative credentials.

Staff writers David Olinger and Anne C. Mulkern contributed to this report.

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