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Nashua Telegraph editorial - November 20, 2007
Candidate exploits the politics of fear
Memo to the presidential candidates: Fear-based political advertising works. Voters remember the ads, the media and bloggers will talk endlessly about them, and the in-your-face message really brings in the campaign contributions.
Facing a long-shot campaign for the Republican nomination, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is selling fear. Voters should pay attention to his message, and reject it completely.
Last week, Tancredo launched a television ad, appearing in Iowa and New Hampshire, crudely attempting to link illegal immigration to the war on terrorism (view it at www.youtube.com/watch ?v=rBK7bWh1m04).
The 30-second spot shows a hooded figure apparently placing a bomb in an American shopping mall. In ominous tones the narrator warns: "There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs. Islamic terrorists now freely roam U.S. soil – jihadists who froth with hate here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia."
Coupled with images of destroyed train cars and wounded children, the message is clear: Immigrants are terrorists; terrorists are evil; hate all immigrants.
From the start, Tancredo has been a one-issue candidate. His campaign admitted this week that he does not expect to win, but does hope to steer the national debate on illegal immigration.
This may be one of the reasons for Tancredo's almost non-existent poll numbers. Immigration is a serious issue, and one that deserves serious debate and action. Making illegal immigrants scapegoats in the war on terrorism is not a serious or productive approach to either issue.
During an interview with The Telegraph's editorial board in September, Tancredo expounded a conservative, though pragmatic, approach to the illegal immigration problem, saying employers should be held responsible for hiring undocumented workers. He said then, "If we don't like our immigration laws, if we think they are wrong, repeal them. If we don't think they are wrong, enforce them."
However, with this latest ad campaign, Tancredo is turning his campaign into the political equivalent of a car wreck. He is polling below one percent and is hoping that fear and smear tactics such as this will cause people to slow down on the highway and rubberneck his campaign.
The American people should demand secure borders and protection from terrorist attacks. They should also demand that actions taken by the government to protect us are effective, efficient and in proportion to the risk.
Yes, terrorists sneaking across our borders could be a risk to national security. However, the 9/11 attacks were perpetrated by 19 hijackers who entered the country on legal visas.
By confusing these issues, Tancredo is damaging his credibility and contributing to the general cynicism of the American people toward politics.
The politics of fear, much like a car wreck, do get people to pay attention. But, much like a car wreck, nothing good can come of it.
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/OPINION01/311200077/-1/opinion
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