MANCHESTER, Iowa - Several Republican lawmakers have joined former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on the campaign trail to sing his praises ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses. But so far there’s been no sign of Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, the strident critic of illegal immigration who threw his support to Romney when he gave up his long-shot bid for the presidency earlier this month.
 
In the past few days, Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, and former Colorado Rep. Bob Beauprez have introduced Romney at campaign events across Iowa. Members of the Iowa legislature have introduced him too.

But where is the man who wants to deport all 12 million illegal immigrants and once referred to Miami as a “Third World country”?
 
“No decision has been made on a joint appearance,” Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said in an e-mail. “Congressman Tancredo ran a campaign focused on issues that are important to many Americans and we thank him for his support. Mitt Romney and Tom Tancredo don’t agree on every issue, but they agree on the need to keep America strong.”
 
A Tancredo spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
 
One Romney supporter said she didn’t want to see Tancredo sharing the spotlight.
 
“For Iowans, illegal immigration is only part of the issue. Tom Tancredo was all illegal immigration, so I don’t think that would help here,” Romney supporter Sue Tagana said in Clinton, Iowa. 
 
Tancredo helped scuttle a congressional effort to overhaul immigration laws earlier this year by characterizing as “amnesty” a provision that would have created a process for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship. His presidential campaign, centered on his opposition to illegal immigration, never gained traction even as other candidates espoused his point of view.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton