Tancredo would be ‘happy to register as a Republican’

In an email sent to supporters Friday, former Congressman Tom Tancredo, who recently lost a third-party bid for governor, proposed a series of meetings between Liberty Groups and Republican leaders in the hope of creating a more unified conservative bloc in Colorado.

In the letter, he said he feared that Colorado was demographically becoming “Eastern California.”

The letter follows:

I recently spoke to a Republican group meeting in Littleton. During the question and answer portion I was asked to comment on the continuing internet feud that is the manifestation of lingering resentments emanating out of the gubernatorial campaign. The person asking went on to say that there are deep divisions in the Republican Party that need to be healed and wanted to know what I was going to do about it. I explained that my hope would be to have a unified Republican Party committed to conservative principles but that the division between conservatives and moderates within the Party has been there as long as I can remember. However, in the past it did not keep us from winning elections. I believe that the combination of McCain-Feingold and the Colorado Democracy Alliance (CODA) created the deadly cocktail that has thrown the Republican Party in Colorado into disarray. Unless Republicans develop a robust strategy to combat this reality, they will always be a step or two behind the curve.

We cannot discount the possibility that, adding to problems for conservatives, Colorado may be becoming “Eastern California” from the standpoint of political demographics.

Since I have no ability to do much about the latter, I will concentrate on actions that can be undertaken to deal with the organizational problems conservatives face in Colorado.

Although the goals of the Liberty Groups are compatible with MOST Republicans, there is some work that needs to be done in order to eliminate any obstacles to cooperation on issues and candidates that advance that common agenda.

Let me suggest a pretty simple undertaking and that is to have the leaders of all Republican and Liberty Groups around the state schedule some joint meetings in the next month or two for the purpose of coming up with agreements and strategies for advancing the front lines in the war of ideas.

There are many folks who will read this who have membership in both the local Republican Club and one or more Liberty Groups and could be the catalysts for the meetings. Perhaps Dick Wadams (sic) and the Liberty Group leadership could draw up a statement that would serve as the discussion point for such meetings with the hope that it could become the articulation of future interaction.

I would be happy to do so but, other than this communication on the subject, I fear my involvement might prove unhelpful for obvious reasons. I would, however, be happy to register as a Republican and work for a better Colorado.

Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo