Walking A Hard Line On Campaign Trail in Iowa

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) in Iowa, where he hopes for some success in today's Ames straw poll. (By Mary Chind -- The Des Moines Register)

"You need the cause," she says, speaking of the campaign's focus on illegal immigration. "The cause will get them out to the straw poll when they're not feeling well, and we have a cause. I want to come slowly and come over the top. I want to be the one coming up. I want the other guy looking over his shoulder."

An easy banter exists between them beyond the stage. Sitting down for a quick lunch following the Swan Lake event, Tancredo says, "I wonder when Fred Thompson's gonna make his announcement?"

"Labor Day is the latest day he's giving us," Buchanan says.

When someone interjects that the late start date could be attributed to "Law & Order," the NBC program Thompson recently left, Buchanan says, "He gets money from the reruns. Because of the rules, they'd have to give equal time. They would have to put Tom on. Tom on all the time."

"Except they'd make me the rapist he's arresting or something," Tancredo says.

"No, you'd be the suspect," Buchanan says. "At the end of the show you might be redeemed."

* * *

It's unclear what constitutes redemption for Tancredo. He says he is a pariah to his party. According to Tancredo, Bush adviser Karl Rove once called him a traitor to the president and to Republicans, and said that Tancredo should never again "darken the doorstep to the White House."

Tancredo's devotion to a single cause seems to energize him. On Wednesday evening, marching in the parade through downtown Des Moines kicking off the Iowa State Fair, Tancredo, dressed in a short-sleeved checkered shirt and a white baseball cap, runs ahead of his supporters and the black Corvette that follows him blasting patriotic songs. The crowd response, dampened by rain, is tepid at best. Surrounded by volunteers in their T-shirts, Tancredo will sprint to a bystander whenever there's a hint of recognition.

"How's it going?" one man says, hugging him.

"You ever talk to a candidate that says things are going bad?"

"Well," the man replies, "my son and I thank you for speaking your mind and for your courage."