Tom Tancredo and Geraldo Rivera talk Tea Party -- and illegal immigration

Tom Tancredo.

Early voting starts today, which means you can stop by any voting center (find them here) and choose a gubernatorial candidate from a lineup that no one would have thought possible a year ago: Denver mayor and Democratic John Hickenlooper, Republican candidate Dan Maes and third-party candidate Tom Tancredo, who's pulled within four points of Hickenlooper according to the most recent Rassmussen poll.

Pretty good for a guy who wasn't even in the race three months ago.

Tancredo, technically running under the banner of the American Constitution Party, was billed as a "Tea Party Candidate" last night when he appeared on Geraldo at Large to talk with Geraldo Rivera about the amazing trajectory of his third-party candidacy.

When Rivera mentioned that Tancredo was within ten points of Hickenlooper, Tancredo countered with last Friday's Rasmussen poll results -- which Rivera dismissed as less reliable than an averaging of all the current poll results.

But the friskier exchange came when the conversation turned to immigration -- and Rivera, who's taken Tancredo on before regarding his hard-line stance -- got in the best line. After Tancredo acknowledged that he was talking a lot about illegal immigration in the campaign, Rivera observed that Tancredo probably mentioned illegal immigration when he said good morning to his wife.

Hello!

More on Tancredo from our Politics archive: "Tom Tancredo on Dan Maes meeting and dodging attacks as a 'racist, Nazi bastard.'"