Maes backers question Tancredo’s conservative principles

Some “concerned citizens” from Northeast Colorado sent an “open letter” to American Constitution Party gubernatorial nominee Tom Tancredo Monday. The letter, signed by 12 people, was sent to a number of newspaper, as well as to The Colorado Independent.

The Colorado Independent was able to reach one of those people, and Maureen Paterson described herself as a supporter of Republican nominee Dan Maes and a past Republican delegate to the state assembly.

Tom Tancredo
She said the other signers were friends, but added she didn’t know if they were all Republicans or supporters of Maes. “We are mostly just concerned about Tom Tancredo,” she said.

The Colorado Independent forwarded a copy of the letter to Tancredo’s office Monday morning and offered him the chance to respond. He did not.

Here’s the letter, which included all the web addresses that are linked to:

Dear Mr. Tancredo,

As concerned citizens and Republican delegates, we were able to meet, interview and vet many of the candidates who respected the caucus process enough to solicit our support in their bid for candidacy. Since you elected not to participate in that process, we feel that the following questions must be answered before you can be deemed worthy of support:

1. You made a solemn term-limits vow to serve no more than three terms as a Congressman, not once but on numerous occasions, and you also headed the Colorado Term Limits Coalition, by saying: “We want to reinvigorate the electoral process by introducing people into the system who think of government service as a temporary endeavor, not as a career.” This sounds like Dan Maes. Then you said, “I will live up to the pledge. That’s it. That’s the overriding issue.” Why did you break your pledge and betray your supporters by running for a fourth term in Congress in 2004? Would it not have served your cause better to mentor a younger Congressman who could carry on your torch?

2. Since you are such a strong crusader of illegal immigration, please explain why, when you hired a construction crew to renovate your basement, you did not express concern that only two of its members spoke English, nor bother to check the workers documentation to see if they were legal residents of the United States. You could have been a trail blazer for us all in discovering ways to be on guard when we encounter similar situations.

3. You voted for the TARP bailouts twice, and not against the General Motors bailout as you promised. Then requested earmarks over $220 million for 17 projects, from a light-rail system west of Denver to a Center for Audio and Video Forensics at the University of Colorado. How does this support a free market and conservative principles?

We are committed to stamping out the corruption and “politics as usual” that have plagued our legislators and distorted the constitution for decades. Each of the questions above address areas of your political career where you have failed to uphold your promises or consider your constituents’ best interest, from breaking a pledge for term limits to ignoring your crusade against illegal immigration to failing to detect illegal immigrant labor when it suits your needs to supporting big business through the TARP bill at the expense of ordinary American taxpayers. Presently, you are backpedaling on your advice to the Tea Party/912 groups to not split votes by running as a third party.

‘We the People’ are looking for a candidate with integrity and principles, and since your campaign ads seem to constantly attack the character of your Republican opponent, we believe it’s imperative that you answer for these inconsistencies in your own.

Looking forward to your response,

Sincerely,

Doug & Maureen Paterson, Clint & Erika Sattler, Paul & Sharon Steiner, Tony & Claudean Boatman, Martha Maxwell, Hal Brown, Robert C. & Lauree Bunderson, et. al.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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