Tancredo rules outwrite-in campaign

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HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. -- Rep. Tom Tancredo wants to make one thing perfectly clear: He's running for re-election, not for president.

So how does he explain all those blue-and-white "Tancredo for President" bumper stickers doing brisk business on Web sites such as stoptheinvasion.com? "It's not me," insists the Colorado Republican who's running for his fourth term from the state's 6th Congressional District in south suburban Denver. "It's not Tom Tancredo. It's just that people know my position on immigration, and one thing has led to another."

As the most prominent critic of illegal immigration in Congress, Mr. Tancredo has become the reluctant subject of an eclectic grass-roots presidential write-in campaign. He's received calls from election officials in at least six states asking if he wants to have his write-in votes counted.

"I got a call yesterday from Atlanta, Georgia, asking if they could put my name on the ballot because so many people want to write me in," said Mr. Tancredo, who said he declined the offer. "Where they've asked us, we've said no. I don't want to affect the outcome of the presidential campaign."

At the moment, he's got his hands full with his congressional race. His Democratic opponent, Joanna Conti, has zeroed in on his support for tighter borders, accusing him of harboring an obsession with illegal immigration that prevents him from effectively representing the district on other issues.

"I'm running for Congress because Tom Tancredo has done such a poor job of representing his district," Mrs. Conti said. "He's so off on his own personal crusade that he's not focused on issues that matter to people in his district, like health care and balancing the budget."

A former small-business owner who founded an international charity, Mrs. Conti, 47, has run an unexpectedly vigorous campaign in the heavily Republican district. She has raised more funding than Mr. Tancredo in the past two reporting periods, although the congressman still enjoys a more than 2-to-1 fund-raising edge.

She's received a boost from Coloradans for Plain Talk, an independent committee running radio ads that call Mr. Tancredo's views "intolerant" and accuse him of "bigotry."

Mrs. Conti, who was a Republican until she switched parties about two years ago, said her opponent's squabbles with the party over immigration have alienated Mr. Tancredo from the rest of his party.

"He's become a pariah in Washington, D.C.," Mrs. Conti said. "[Bush adviser] Karl Rove told him never to darken the doors of the White House again. He's basically burned his bridges."

It's true that Mr. Tancredo hasn't enjoyed the best of relationships with the Bush White House. When Mr. Bush proposed his so-called amnesty plan in January, Mr. Tancredo was the first to assail the proposal, saying it would encourage more illegal immigration and threaten national security.

Since then, however, there's been evidence of a detente. When Mr. Bush made a campaign stop in Colorado on Monday, he introduced Mr. Tancredo, who attended the rally.

"He acknowledged me. We shook hands. I said, 'God bless you, Mr. President,'" Mr. Tancredo said. "Karl Rove gave [Rep.] Bob Beauprez a big hug, but he didn't say anything to me. And he certainly wasn't going to hug me."

The congressman has been reprimanded by some Republicans for running for a fourth term after saying originally that he would serve only three terms. Mr. Tancredo said he needs to stay in Congress to continue fighting illegal immigration.

Mr. Tancredo, 58, also disagrees with the claim that he's a one-trick pony, saying that he has taken an active legislative role on a number of issues concerning his district, notably veterans affairs and national security.

He points out that he's always been outspoken on illegal immigration, yet he was easily re-elected in 2002 with 67 percent of the vote.

"No one can call me the stealth immigration candidate," Mr. Tancredo said. "So when [Mrs. Conti] says 'He's not in touch,' she's not taking into account that most people in my district do care about this issue."

After years in the wilderness, Mr. Tancredo says he's seeing signs of progress. He was encouraged with the recent passage of House Resolution 10, a homeland security measure that included tough talk on border security.

"I had the speaker and the House majority leader talking about the importance of keeping those provisions in the bill," he said.