Amendment 64: Tom Tancredo on why GOP should embrace marijuana measure
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| Tom Tancredo during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign with, among others, Dog the Bounty Hunter. |
"I would like to be able to say, 'I showed the Republican party the way to capture the youth vote,' but I don't think that's true," he goes on. "If I ran for governor again, let's say, I wonder to what extent this would have any impact on the outcome -- and I don't think it would. I think it would probably end up the same way it did," with Tancredo finishing well behind Democrat John Hickenlooper in the 2010 election.
In his view, the Republicans' demographic issues come down to a simple fact: "The party is completely bereft of ideology. It is simply a mechanism. It's not like the Libertarian party or the Constitution party or even, I think, the Democratic party, whose goal is more government. Instead of having a distinct ideology, the Republicans try to cobble together little segments of society. That's why there's always a big fight over whether we should take out all of the references to abortion in the party platform -- and then you say, 'If you do, will you lose all the anti-abortion parts of the party?' It's a loose confederation of people who come together periodically, hoping their side will win the ideological battle within the party."
As Tancredo sees it, Republicans could correct this problem by jointly embracing genuine conservatism -- and if that happens, members of the GOP will realize measures like Amendment 64 are a perfect fit.
"If you're a true conservative," he says, "this kind of an issue is a no-brainer."
Look below to see two more videos: Tancredo's Amendment 64 debate with Ken Buck on KBDI/Channel 12 and a CBS4 report about his endorsement of the measure.
More from our Marijuana archive: "Marijuana: Susan Sarandon voicing robocalls for Amendment 64."
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