I have been greatly disappointed by the downward spiral of Tom Tancredo. In the May debate in South Carolina, Tancredo reminded voters that he voted against the surge and that he thought troop withdrawals should start in the fall. In addition, Tancredo communicated a quasi-minarchist position when he said:

“There are a million programs that we operate and that we pay for with the federal government that are far beyond the bounds of the Constitution. Follow the Constitution and you’ll know what is — what’s necessary. And that’s the defense of the country — that’s it for the federal government.”

In other words, he believed that the only legitimate role of government was national security — that’s it. At my first MeetUp Group, people even speculated that Tancredo would endorse Paul when Tancredo dropped out. Now, Tancredo is advocating an indefinite stay in Iraq, “taking the gloves off there” (i.e. upping the acceptable level of collateral damage), nuking Mecca, and creating 30-second fear sessions for his campaign commercials.

What a shameful collapse of a once-decent candidate.