Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Votes Americans Won't Cast

Jesse Walker | 12.20.2007 6:52 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Tom Tancredo has dropped out of the presidential race. He will be replaced by Montezuma Aztlán Calderón, an undocumented worker from Oaxaca who will denounce the Brown Peril for just $3 an hour plus room and board.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: McCain: Losing His Job in the New York Times?

Jesse Walker is books editor at Reason and the author of Rebels on the Air and The United States of Paranoia.

PoliticsPolicyImmigrationCampaigns/Elections
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (41)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. highnumber   17 years ago

    Wait, wait - will you be here all week? Do I need to tip the waitress?

  2. thoreau   17 years ago

    That reminds me of this Onion video about a corporate executive being replaced by an illegal immigrant from Mexico:

    http://www.theonion.com/content/video/immigration_the_human_cost

  3. MikeP   17 years ago

    Unless he's an anchor baby, Calder?n is not eligible to be president.

  4. Elemenope   17 years ago

    And endorsed the RoboMormon on the way out. Will wonders never cease?

  5. thoreau   17 years ago

    Unless he's an anchor baby, Calder?n is not eligible to be president.

    The Constitution will be changed as part of the Reconquista.

  6. J sub D   17 years ago

    Tom Tancredo? Who's he?

  7. Chris Grieb   17 years ago

    This post is priceless. Thank you!

  8. Joshua Holmes   17 years ago

    They took our candidates!

  9. NoStar   17 years ago

    Keeping Ron Paul buried by having a many candidates at the debates, limiting his face time hasn't worked. In fact having front runners all hovering in the low 20s makes Paul look like he could catch them.

    So, now the big wigs who dictate GOP strategy will change tack. It looks like Romney is their man. All other candidates will be pressured to drop out and support Romney.

    Ron Paul's supporters are more motivated than the supporters of the more mainstream GOP candidates. If that motivation gets them out to the caucuses and primaries (provided they have remembered to register) there will be some upsets. This is where a well run campaign proves its mettle and organization skill. (That and having paid off the Diebold code writers.)

  10. Jesse Walker   17 years ago

    Unless he's an anchor baby, Calder?n is not eligible to be president.

    That's OK. Where a native-born candidate would insist on at least 6 percent of the vote, Calder?n will work for less than 1 percent.

  11. edward   17 years ago

    Well the racist Nativist vote won't have to split anymore. They can all vote for Ron Paul.

  12. Cesar   17 years ago

    Jesse Walker, that was awesome.

    edward, you're not capitalizing your name anymore?

  13. ed   17 years ago

    Will you please notify us when Hit & Run has officially become a comedy site? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And other cliches. Carry on.

  14. J sub D   17 years ago

    ... endorsed Republican rival Mitt Romney as the best man to carry on the fight.

    That tears it man! Game over! If you add all of Tancredo's supportters to Romney's 16-17% you get 16.02-17.02%. Romney is an irresistable force now.

  15. Brandybuck   17 years ago

    Good, another "immigration is evil" candidate is gone. I can understand Ron Paul's concern about illegal trespassing and security, but Tancredo didn't seem to grok the difference between legal and illegal immigration. Or maybe he did and was just pandering to the racists.

  16. John C. Randolph   17 years ago

    As it happens, the immigration issue is one of my two major points of disagreement with the good doctor. From where I sit, it looks like the economy of the southwest would collapse if we really did send all the mexicans home, and I really don't see an influx of Roman Catholic day laborers as the same cause for concern as (say) a million hard-core head-choppers would be.

    There's an obvious, and appropriate solution to the immigration issue, which is to repeal minimum wage laws, offer work visas that don't require a college degree, and give them to anyone who passes a background check. Once there's a way for employers to hire day labor legally, who's going to bother with the risk of hiring anyone who doesn't have the ticket?

    -jcr

  17. John C. Randolph   17 years ago

    My opinion on Romney flipped from "eh, another random Republican with nothing much to offer" to "Man, what an asshole", when I saw this video:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=NY6UTnS6Z-A

    He's a prick.

    -jcr

  18. Click \'n\' Learn   17 years ago

    This post is indeed priceless. Although, I'm sure those who profit from corporatism might be able to spare few bucks to keep them coming.

    Speaking about Calderon, here's something he said recently. They aren't even trying to hide it anymore. Note that moves like that have a cost, yet hacks never put those costs into their calculations when promoting massive illegal activity.

    Note also that he didn't specify that the groups had to be far-left. Maybe he could spare a few bucks to help out a certain "libertarian" magazine.

  19. the innominate one   17 years ago

    congrats on discovering the spacebar, lonewacko

  20. Cesar   17 years ago

    Maybe thats because FelipeCalderon isn't FarLeft, if you read anything about domestic MexicanPolitics you would KnowThat.

  21. David E. Gallaher   17 years ago

    I second Chris Grieb: Priceless, Jesse.
    And a very merry cursemas to youse and yourn.

    Ruthless

  22. okcawenoL   17 years ago

    As usual, Reason doesn't have a clue.

    Tancredo is going all the way.

    The little green men in my salt shaker told me so...

  23. mch   17 years ago

    "a million hard-core head-choppers would be."

    Enlightenment-following Terror fanatics of the French Revolution?

  24. imp   17 years ago

    Unless he's an anchor baby, is not eligible to be president.

    Maybe he could find work as an editor at a libertarian magazine.

  25. Mad for Ron Paul   17 years ago

    Ron Paul isn't just opposed to recent illegal immigrants:

    The criminals who terrorize our cities -- in riots and on every non-riot day--are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are. As children, they are trained to hate whites, to believe that white oppression is responsible for all black ills, to "fight the power," and to steal and loot as much money from the white enemy as possible. Anything is justified against "The Man." And "The Woman." A lady I know recently saw a black couple in the supermarket with a cute little girl, three years old or so. My friend waved to the tiny child, who scowled, stuck out her tongue, and said (somewhat tautologically): "I hate you, white honkey." And the parents were indulgent. Is any white child taught to hate in this way? I've never heard of it. --Ron Paul

  26. Bee   17 years ago

    congrats on discovering the spacebar, lonewacko

    Must be back on his meds.

  27. Lone Gunman   17 years ago

    Congrats on being alive!

    -- Oh, the night is young.

  28. illegal alien   17 years ago

    Note that moves like that have a cost, yet hacks never put those costs into their calculations when promoting massive illegal activity.

    U.S. immigration policy is "illegal". Fuck you.

  29. ck   17 years ago

    Ummm......guys.......there's actually a serious side-effect to the drop-out of this clown Tancredo.

    (1) He's not going to come in (next-to) last. That means he'll be able to claim more popularity for his pet cause than is actually the case.

    (2) This means that the only candidate that Ron Paul is going to beat is Dr. Strangelove Duncan Hunter.

    Awful news all around, really

  30. bob   17 years ago

    So how does tancredo (whose sole issue is immigration) endorse romney and actually expect his followers to listen? That would be like Paul endorsing benito, would any of you actually vote for benito? I wouldn't.

  31. TWC   17 years ago

    ck, I see it the other way. Tom drops out. RP is a stronger candidate otherwise Tom woulda stayed.

    Oaxaca

    Pronounced Wah Ha Ka

    Huh?

  32. T   17 years ago

    Can we outsource other government functions for $3/hr, or just candidacy?

  33. Taktix?   17 years ago

    Tancredo was a dick ever since he said South Florida is a third world country. Sorry we're not all white-bread nutjobs from one of the rectangle states.

    Intelligence and culture are attracted to states with squiggly borders...

  34. Taktix?   17 years ago

    Oaxaca

    Pronounced Wah Ha Ka

    Huh?

    Likely part of the Azteca cultural movement, which I think is pretty cool, actually...

  35. The Democratic Republican   17 years ago

    Corporatists screwing honest businesses and laborers by circumventing labor laws with "undocumented" workers? HIlarity!!

    reason constantly reminds me that, for an apparently large group of people, "libertarianism" bears no resemblance to Nozick's concept of justice as fair process. It apparently just means "do whatever the hell you want." Even if we open the gates of immigration, EVERYBODY HAS TO PLAY BY THE SAME RULES. Some will ALWAYS have the taste for getting ahead by breaking the law, until the point where there is NO law. Businesses are -- corporatists plug your ears -- often just as bad as government when it comes to our natural rights.

    And what is this schlock about U.S. immigration policy being illegal? Are you kidding? A sovereign nation doesn't have the right to control its own borders? Lay off whatever drugs you're using.

  36. R C Dean   17 years ago

    Pronounced Wah Ha Ka

    Its true.

    Likely part of the Azteca cultural movement, which I think is pretty cool, actually...

    Nah, that's how its always been pronounced. I can remember in my yout' how pleased, er, some people were when a shipment of primo Oaxacan came in. That's how, um, they pronounced it back in the day.

  37. VM   17 years ago

    "since he said South Florida is a third world country"

    woah. not only dickish, but wow.

    hay econ types - Univ of South Fla has some cool things going on there.

  38. Isaac Bartram   17 years ago

    ...offer work visas that don't require a college degree, and give them to anyone who passes a background check.

    ...

    It would also help if the background checks didn't take anywhere from ten monthes to three years to finish.

  39. Inquiring Mind   17 years ago

    Hey...how DO you pronounce "Tancredo", anyway? /tan-cre'-tin/?

  40. Daldude   17 years ago

    "A sovereign nation doesn't have the right to control its own borders?"

    That kind of rhetorical question might carry alot more weight of this nation actually, like, respected the sovereignty of other nations...

  41. CLOSE THE BORDERS THEY WANT TO   17 years ago

    THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR AMERICANS WHO OUT THERE WILL SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE PEOPLE THAT WE NEED TO STOP UP THE WHOLES IN OUR BORDERS BECAUSE THE ILLEGALGRANTS ARE MAKING AGRICULTURE TOO AFFORDABLE AND LOWERING THE AVERAGE WAGES FOR UNION CONSTRUCTION AND CONTRACTORS WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT IMMIGRANTS TAKING GOVERNMENT JOBS AND WORKING HARDER AND MAKING THE DMV LINE MOVE FASTER THOSE JOBS ARE FOR NATIVE PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO SAY THE PLEGE OF ALLEGENCE AND DONT SECRETLY WHISPER VIVA LA RAZA

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Bob Menendez Does Not Deserve a Pardon

Billy Binion | 5.30.2025 5:25 PM

12-Year-Old Tennessee Boy Arrested for Instagram Post Says He Was Trying To Warn Students of a School Shooting

Autumn Billings | 5.30.2025 5:12 PM

Texas Ten Commandments Bill Is the Latest Example of Forcing Religious Texts In Public Schools

Emma Camp | 5.30.2025 3:46 PM

DOGE's Newly Listed 'Regulatory Savings' for Businesses Have Nothing to Do With Cutting Federal Spending

Jacob Sullum | 5.30.2025 3:30 PM

Wait, Lilo & Stitch Is About Medicaid and Family Separation?

Peter Suderman | 5.30.2025 1:59 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!