Tom Tancredo: Dog the Bounty Hunter, Joe Arpaio rev up 1,000-plus fans at Grizzly Rose

Tom Tancredo.

The week started with Tom Tancredo wiping out on his motorcycle. It ended with him effectively wiping Dan Maes off the political map with a September 26 fundraiser that attracted more than a thousand people to the Grizzly Rose -- among them Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Duane Chapman, a former Denverite who found fame as Dog the Bounty Hunter.

This was the first time the mulleted Dog has endorsed a candidate -- but then, when Tancredo was still in Congress, he went to bat for Dog when the bounty hunter run afoul of authorities in Mexico.

I didn't get to stay for all the speeches, but I was there long enough to see Tancredo -- dressed in a Dog T-shirt, an NRA cap and a biker's leather jacket. (The bike he'd borrowed while his is in the shop had a dead battery that morning, so he'd gotten off to a slow start.) And Pat Miller, the former legislator and still pro-lifer who'd plunged back into public life to be his running mate. (She'd learned to line-dance at the Grizzly Rose, she said.) And Freda Poundstone, the 83-year-old politico who loaned Maes money for his mortgage or his campaign, depending on who you believe, and now is supporting Tancredo. And the protesters out front, who were largely ignored by the line of Tancredo supporters in Broncos attire or motorcycle leathers or cowboy hats (or all three) patiently waiting to get in the door while country music blared inside.

Only in America -- as these photos attest.

By the way, Chapman is slated to be on Peter Boyle's show at 7 a.m. today.