Tommy T Strikes Again: New Tancredo Immigration = Terrorism Ad Sparks Controversy

The L.A. Times reports that “Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo on Monday unveiled a television ad depicting a hooded terrorist detonating a bomb inside a shopping mall, a message the Colorado congressman said he hoped would vault illegal immigration to its rightful place at the center of the campaign. Critics accused Tancredo of fear-mongering.”

Judge for yourself and watch the clip at http://teamtancredo.org/

In my view, this is another unfortunate linkage of immigration and immigration reform with terrorism.  Since September 11, security concerns have dominated all discussions of immigration reform, with the result being the failure to pass any immigration reform.

UPDATE:  Under attack, Rep. Tancredo defended the ad.  CNN noted that

“Tancredo’s ad isn’t the first political commercial to portray an imminent attack on the United States. President Lyndon Johnson’s infamous `Daisy’ ad in 1964 pictured a young girl counting down to a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. The ad ran once in Johnson’s campaign against Sen. Barry Goldwater. Over a loud explosion, Johnson is heard saying, `These are the stakes: To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die.'”

KJ