Letter from Tancredo to 9-12 groups-PLEASE READ-sorry about the colored parts

UNITED WE (Still) STAND?

Colorado Governor's Race a Quandary 


One thing President Obama can legitimately take credit for is uniting so many Americans -- not by his ideology, his attempts to change our way of life, or his government takeover of our private sector -- but by giving us a shared goal to stop him from further undermining our liberties and destroying our economy.  He has, in ways few of us could have imagined a few short years ago, brought us together.  

I wish I could say the same about the Governor's race, but the truth is it is leaving us deeply divided -- and whether that divide will grow deeper after November is an unknown.   I respect many champions in the grassroots that have stuck by and fought hard for Dan Maes.  They have shown enormous loyalty and great courage.    I also respect the many great patriots who have worked and fought hard to elect Tom Tancredo, with neither the time nor the organization to support them.  

However, this race has left many of us somewhat battered and bruised, perhaps worse.  It has left us all with unanswered questions and a frustration with our so-called  leaders, and a system that just didn't work.   

So where are we?  The votes are not there for Dan Maes, and that is not going to change.  ROAR has withdrawn its endorsement, and Congressman Doug Lamborn has also endorsed Tancredo at press conference on 10/21/10.  On the other hand, here is a quote from Rasmussen Reports:
 

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Colorado finds Hickenlooper with 42% support, while Tancredo, the candidate of the American Constitution Party, earns 38% of the vote. Support for Republican Dan Maes continues to fall and now stands at 12%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.  Less than two weeks ago, Tancredo earned 35% of the vote to Hickenlooper’s 43% and Maes’ 16%. That shifted the race from Solid Democrat to Leans Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard. Now the race moves to a Toss-Up.

This poll has a margin of error of 4%, making the count within that margin of error.  To read the entire article, go to http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/e...

Tancredo's website touts another poll released 10/22 by Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies (not sure who that is!) that shows Tancredo and Hickenloooper in a statistical tie, with Hickenlooper claiming an insignificant one-point lead. In the poll, Hickenlooper received 44 percent support and Tancredo 43 percent.  http://www.tancredoforgovernor2010.org/press/press_display.php?id=41 

Below is a letter from two 9-12'ers who met with TT --  and also a letter from TT to all of us out here in the grassroots.

Hello Colorado Liberty Groups,

Myself and Travis Whipple met with Tom Tancredo yesterday.  As I have been in contact with several of the "Tea Party" and 9-12 groups, I have found some feelings of anger about how Tom Tancredo entered the governor's race and that some felt ignored after the "Colorado Liberty Groups" sent him a letter urging him not to enter the governor's race.  I called Tom three days ago and explained the best I could about these feelings that people have conveyed.  He sounded surprised when I first mentioned it to him and immediately asked me what he could do to rectify the hurt feelings.  I told him that we should meet and talk about what he might be willing to do.  We all decided that a letter to the Liberty Groups would be the best way to let people know his feelings.   I feel that he has a true sense of regret that some had hurt feelings in our groups, whom he greatly respects.  I believe he truly does want what is best for Colorado, and that he also values our input and would also look for continued input in the future from our groups.   PLEASE SEE TOM'S LETTER IN THE ATTACHMENT.

Feel free to share this with your members.

Best Regards,

Don Dimig, District 2 Conservatives Director
Travis Whipple, Longmont 912 Tea Party 

October 22, 2010

AN OPEN APPEAL TO COLORADO LIBERTY GROUPS

Fellow Patriots:

Ten months ago I wrote an “Open Letter to Colorado’s 9-12 activists and tea party patriots,” a letter in which I urged all conservatives to work within the Republican Party and avoid third party temptations. In July, many of the 9-12 and tea party groups understandably criticized me for not following that advice when I announced that I was considering running for governor as a third party candidate.

I should have explained my decision more completely at that time and should have responded directly to your open letter to me. When I said, simply, that “things change,” I meant that something very fundamental had changed. I apologize for the miscommunication and my failure to address those early questions more fully.

It was Mark Twain who said, love your country no matter what and love your government when it deserves it. He could have said that about the Republican Party as well. Tea party activists know better than anyone that party loyalty is a good thing, but it cannot be the bedrock principle of a free people. Our first loyalty is to love the Constitution and do all that is necessary to defend it.

Fellow conservatives, I have not changed, my principles have not changed, and my decisions of the past year have been in service to those same conservative principles.

I was present at the first tax protest rally in February 2009 and again at a dozen other tea party rallies since then. We share the same beliefs and are alarmed over the direction of our government. We share a commitment to restoring sound constitutional principles in both Washington, DC and our state capitol.

The people must take control of the state government in November or we will see the biggest tax increase in our state’s history under John Hickenlooper, a man who says that all of state government is “underfunded.”

I pledge to you that if elected, I will adhere to strong conservative principles, that I will reach out to the tea party and 9-12 groups, and that my administration will strive to uphold the highest ethical standards as well as total transparency.

I need your help and support and I appeal for that support. Together we can win this race.

Together we can rebuild the Republican Party and work with the Colorado State Legislators on redistricting, which protects Republican representation in the State of Colorado. We can reform our state government to avoid tax increases, cut spending, and bring back oil and gas and military jobs. We can join conservatives across this great nation to fulfill the duty of every patriot to “secure the blessings of liberty” for our children and grandchildren.

Sincerely,

Tom Tancredo

As always, come to your own conclusions.  But whatever your vote in this one race, do not lose heart, do not pit yourself against others whose vote may differ, and let's stay the course.  It is not a platitude to continue to say and believe that UNITED WE STAND. 

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Thank you for posting this item. The difficult to read text can be found in the on-line version of the recent Cherry Creek 9-12 newsletter.

http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=9278cb81d7cdb7931da8c85cf&id...

I saw that one of the more recent Colorado gubernatorial debates was posted at Breitbart.tv. The complete debate is listed first and a clip follows.

http://www.breitbart.tv/full-debate-colorado-governor-race/
http://www.breitbart.tv/tancredo-dominates-discussion-in-colorado-g...
Tom still did not address the reality of his candidacy as a third party candidate. He refers to the Mark Twain passage and losely confers that we should not deserve to love our Republican Party. I say to Tom "for what reason?" Becouse the Grassroots Tea Party became active Republicans and choose to elect Dan Maes and then held to their proceedures. Would it have been better for the Republicans to have bowed to the wishes of Tom Tancredo's will and forced both prospective candidates of the Primary to withdraw? I continue to hold to the principles by which we all choose our candidates. We would never have forced "Both ways Bob" to relinquish his candidacy for Governor and produce a walk in candidate choosen by themself to fit that role. The Pledge that Tom makes is a fair one and I hold him to be an honest man in that respect. His recent momentum may still gain his victory. Time will tell if his third party candidacy was a tragic failure or impossible victory.
Dear Fred:

I haven't met you and know nothing about you other than your impressive biography. You strike me as a man of principle given your dogged determination to hang on to the Republican nominee in spite of current circumstances. If, as you have said many times, the attacks on Dan Maes were unfair, he could have demonstrated his leadership skills in rebuffing them. He failed miserably, and lost my support soon after he won the nomination.

I have had the pleasure and privilege over the last couple of months to spend time with Tom Tancredo, one on one and in situations where he is answering questions and talking about his core beliefs outside of any spot light. From his high school teacher days to Congress days and now, his life has been one of service and conservative principles. Not perfect, perhaps, but consistent, sincere and strong.

Tom did what a leader does when he sees a problem that is not being addressed by those responsible. Neither McGinnis, post-plagiarism, nor Maes (whom I voted for), post-Kansas cop-record campaign fines-poverty level income-no experience in governmen, etc., could have come close to beating Hickenlooser. When he could not persuade either to agree to drop if they became the nominee, he found another way.

Tom did not start this election cycle with designs on being governor. But he knows what Hickenlooser will add to the damage to Colorado already done by Ritter and the Democrats, and he believed if the cards fell the right way he could stop it.

It appears more and more that Tom may be right. What can make the final difference is the last few percent of principled people like you coming to the ultimate decision that a vote is too precious to waste, and four years of a life-long conservative Republican governing under another banner and signing bills from a Republican-led state legislature beats the heck out of Hick saying no to reducing taxes and the size of government, no to developing energy, and no to enforciing immigration.

You may recall that I wrote early on that I had emailed Tom and begged him not to pull a Ross Perot on our governor's race. I changed my mind when I lost faith in Dan's ability to compete. Now that it is clear that Tom can win, I have absolutely no regrets. I very strongly hope you will consider changing your mind as well.

On a different note, thank you very much for the great work that must have been done to get this group started and this incredible web site running. I hope to be a part of generating excitement and concerted activity as we rev up for 2012.

Warm regards, RBC

Fredrick Lindner said:
Tom still did not address the reality of his candidacy as a third party candidate. He refers to the Mark Twain passage and losely confers that we should not deserve to love our Republican Party. I say to Tom "for what reason?" Becouse the Grassroots Tea Party became active Republicans and choose to elect Dan Maes and then held to their proceedures. Would it have been better for the Republicans to have bowed to the wishes of Tom Tancredo's will and forced both prospective candidates of the Primary to withdraw? I continue to hold to the principles by which we all choose our candidates. We would never have forced "Both ways Bob" to relinquish his candidacy for Governor and produce a walk in candidate choosen by themself to fit that role. The Pledge that Tom makes is a fair one and I hold him to be an honest man in that respect. His recent momentum may still gain his victory. Time will tell if his third party candidacy was a tragic failure or impossible victory.

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