April 11, 2018 01:57 PM UTC

Tancredo Says He'll Endorse Walker Stapleton

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Walker Stapleton’s campaign for Governor should be happy about this. Probably.

Going to support Walker Stapleton Saturday. There are two issues that matter most to me, opposition to sanctuary cities and electability.

— Tom Tancredo (@TancredoTom) April 11, 2018

You might recall that Tom Tancredo lit into Stapleton’s candidacy after dropping out of the race for Governor in late January. In an interview with Westword on January 30, Tancredo more than suggested that his candidacy was derailed by Stapleton supporters:

“It’s just the way it is. Nobody has to create it. Walker Stapleton is the ultimate insider, and I’m the ultimate outsider — and nothing has changed except that, in the past, I was able to raise enough money to make things doable, at least from my point of view. I raised $1 million the last time during the primary. But we weren’t going to be able to get anywhere near that this time.”…

…”At this point, I will endorse the Republican candidate, because the alternative is so bad,” he maintains. “That’s another reason why I got out: I don’t want to risk it. Jared Polis is a radical leftist. Even though he’s trying his best to become a moderate in the eyes of the general public, I think he’s beatable — but the only way you can beat him is to have enough money to pull back the curtain and show who’s really behind it. Jared Polis is not Mr. Moderate, but he has so much money that he can concoct the kind of picture he wants.”

To counter such efforts, Tancredo goes on, “Maybe Walker can go through his Rolodex” — a reference to Stapleton being a member of the extended Bush family that has already given the United States two presidents. “And if he looks like he could be a viable candidate, that should convince the Republican Governors Association to help. But it’s going to take a lot.”

In Tancredo’s view, Stapleton will also face Colorado voters’ traditional antipathy for any candidate portrayed as inevitable: “That’s absolutely something he’s going to have to overcome. I would have had to prove that I’m not the Devil incarnate — not a wild-eyed racist who meets on Lookout Mountain with others wearing sheets. But Walker will have to defend himself against being that ultimate insider, and I hope he has the ability and I hope he’s successful, if he’s the nominee.”

You know what they say: Time Two months heals all wounds.