Tancredo unleashes hounds of hell

American Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo Wednesday unleashed the hounds, first on Democrat John Hickenlooper and then on hapless Republican Dan Maes.

First, Tancredo released this video of Marat Kudlis talking about an automobile accident caused by an illegal immigrant in which Kudlis’ son was killed. Kudlis accuses Denver Mayor Hickenlooper of running a sanctuary city and says near the end, “Try to sleep at night knowing your policy contributed to his death.”

Hickenlooper posted a lengthy response to Tancredo’s web ad on his own website. This link takes you directly to that page.

Hickenlooper then released this ad, and vowed to run a positive campaign.

He also released a statement in response to other ads Tancredo is running:

“As candidates running for governor of Colorado, we each have a choice to make. We can present a positive vision for our state or we can attack our opponents with false statements that only increase the partisanship. Congressman Tancredo has obviously made his choice, and his attacks will surely continue to pollute the airwaves until Election Day.”

Then, Wednesday night, Tancredo turned his chops on Maes.

Tancredo issued a statement saying he was looking forward to a two-man race with Hickenlooper. He pointed to a new Fox News poll showing Tancredo leading Maes 34-15, but with Hickenlooper still on top with 44 percent.

Tancredo said he’s looking forward to a two-man race with Hickenlooper after moving up in the polls and narrowing the gap with Hickenlooper to just 10 percentage points.

Tancredo said that Maes committed earlier this year to drop out of the remaining gubernatorial debates if he dropped below 20 percent in the polls.

On the Sept. 9 Caplis and Silverman Show, during a discussion of whether Tom Tancredo should be included in the gubernatorial debates, Maes stated that there needs to be a benchmark for being invited to the debates.

“If you’re polling 20 percent, come on board, and if you’re not, then you don’t come,” Maes said on the show.

“Here’s what’s different about me and career politicians,” Maes continued. “When I set a rule, I live by it, and I don’t change the goal post when it doesn’t suit me well.”

A Maes spokesman told The Denver Post that Maes was speaking hypothetically and had not committed to dropping out of either the debates or the race.