Tom Tancredo camp on convincing diehard GOP voters to support him, Sarah Palin endorsement

By Michael Roberts Tue., Nov. 2 2010 at 9:45 AM

Categories: Follow That Story, Politics

Tom Tancredo.

We know that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes will be honking and waving on election day, and the campaign of Dem John Hickenlooper has announced he'll be doing the same; look for him at three Denver locations beginning at 11:10 a.m.

And American Constitution Party hopeful Tom Tancredo? Cliff Dodge, his operations manager, says, "I have no idea. He'll probably either be at home with his wife or stop into the office. I don't know."

This response is emblematic of Tancredo's highly unusual campaign, which has included a fundraising event co-starring Dog the Bounty Hunter and Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, as well as numerous idiosyncratic Tea Party town halls. And that's not to mention unguarded interviews like a conversation with Westword earlier this month in which he used the word "bullshit" and joked about potential ads branding him a "racist, Nazi bastard."

Sarah Palin.

Dodge is equally plainspoken. Consider his take on Sarah Palin's recent endorsement of Tancredo's candidacy, which is tempered rather than effusive. "She's doing a robo-call for Tom, and that's a very nice touch," he says. "We're very happy about it. But given the fact that so many people have already voted, perhaps it won't have as much of an impact if it'd happened a week or two weeks ago."

He also downplays the notion that Maes's tailspin will convince more longtime Republicans that it's not disloyal to cast their ballot for Tancredo.

"I don' t think Dan Maes's campaign is going to have much to do with that," he allows. "Those are old, established habits. If somebody is going to go out and check Republican and hasn't figured this thing out by now, there's not a lot we'll be able to do about it. We're just going to work as hard as we can through seven tonight and hope for the best."

This evening, Dodge does know where Tancredo will be -- the campaign party at the Stampede Country Dance Hall in Aurora (click for details). As for the odds that Tancredo will shock the political world and actually defeat Hickenlooper for governor, Dodge says, "I think we've already shocked the world on this. But the good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, it'll get even better."