Rep. Tom Tancredo’s campaign defended an ad today that depicted a hooded terrorist blowing up a shopping mall, despite allegations by some that the congressman was engaging in fear-mongering.
“We’re doing this to bring attention to a real national security threat. The FBI has come out with reports that al-Qaida may be attempting to attack shopping malls this Christmas,” said Tancredo’s campaign spokesperson Alan Moore.
The 30-second spot, which began airing on cable television in Iowa, depicts Tancredo as the only candidate brave enough to buck political convention and discuss the true threat of immigration — terrorists crossing from Mexico into the U.S.
It ends with the image of a backpack abandoned in a crowded mall, a black screen and the sound of a loud explosion. An on-screen message declares:
“Tancredo … before it’s too late.”
Tancredo, who has lagged toward the bottom in a large primary field, introduced the ad and an accompanying radio spot at an appearance in Des Moines. The state is scheduled to hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses Jan. 3.
“The consequences of uncontrolled immigration are far more serious than our leaders want us to believe,” the candidate said in a prepared statement. “The safety of Americans and the security of our way of life are on the line.” Dennis Goldford, a professor of political science at Drake University in Des Moines, called the Tancredo spot “an incredibly fear-based kind of advertisement that some might say is trying to terrorize people into supporting his view.”
Goldford said the culminating explosion evoked memories of a 1964 ad by President Johnson that used a little girl plucking petals from a daisy and a mushrooming nuclear cloud to suggest that Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, the then-Republican presidential candidate, would set off a nuclear war.
Although the new ad claims Tancredo would protect Americans from “jihadists who froth with hate,” one immigration activist said it was Tancredo “who is frothing with hate.” “I think this is political pandering at its worst,” said Clarissa Martinez, a spokeswoman for Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a group that supported a congressional compromise that would have allowed some illegal immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship.
Moore called that accusation “way off base,” adding that the ad was “absolutely not” over the top. But some critics warned that the ad could have harmful consequences.
“Unfortunately, we may see more ads like this in 2008 that are really raising the level of intolerance (against immigrants) in a lot of communities.” Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, declined to comment on the ad because the nonprofit is not supposed to engage in political advocacy. But his organization has voiced some of the same concerns as Tancredo.
“FAIR has been saying for a long time you can’t have the border open only to allow gardeners and busboys into this country and not expect terrorists to take advantage,” Mehlman said on Monday.
The Tancredo ad begins with the image of a gloved hand jamming a bomb into a backpack, then follows a hooded figure, whose face cannot be seen, strolling through a mall as a narrator decries “20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs” and “Islamic terrorists (who) now freely roam U.S. soil.” Images of bombed-out trains and a bloodied boy follow, then pictures of shoppers and a woman pushing a baby carriage through an airy mall. As the hooded figure leaves the backpack beside a bench and walks away, the narrator announces — “The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill” — just before the explosion sounds.
The ad appears to play off a report last week that al-Qaida might target shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago this holiday season, although counterterrorism officials have downplayed the warning, saying it was based on an uncorroborated report from a foreign intelligence source.
Tancredo spokesman Alan Moore said the ad will air next in New Hampshire and then nationally, although he did not provide details on how widely the campaign can afford to place the spots.
When candidates last reported on their finances at the end of September, Tancredo had $110,079 cash on hand. That would seem to allow for only limited use of the ad, titled “Tough on Terror.” In an accompanying radio spot, the congressman promises to “prosecute those who provide sanctuary to anyone who would harm us, deport all those who do not belong here, and put the military on the border if necessary.”
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
