Darrell Issa Is Losing It

Darrell Issa is a good Congressman. I give him major props for helping to get gumby recalled, but having said that, I think he is starting to lose it in regards to this race here in the 48th CD. Here is an article from the National Journal today about Darrell wanting Republicans to kick Tom Tancredo out of the party for endorsing Jim Gilchrist. Tread very carefully here Darrell. John Kobylt is going to go Chernobal on you if your not careful. Look what happened to that train wreck townhall last year with Asa Hutchinson. You should be more concerned about stopping the flow of illegals than trying to boot great Americans out of the party. Here's the article:

Mark Wegner
© National Journal Group, Inc.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he would urge that Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., be thrown out of the Republican Party if he continues backing a third-party candidate in the special election for California's 48th District.

"I would ask the state of Colorado to strip him of his party membership," Issa said in an interview.

Tancredo has endorsed and appeared in a cable television ad for American Independent Party candidate Jim Gilchrist, who is running in the Oct. 4 open primary to replace former Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., who is now SEC chairman.

Issa said Tancredo, a vocal immigration critic, could have chosen to endorse any one of 10 Republicans in the race.

Gilchrist, an anti-immigration activist, is the founder of the Minuteman Project, which monitors the U.S.-Mexico border for illegal immigrants.

"Gilchrist is a single-issue candidate with no chance of winning," Issa said.

Issa confirmed he publicly raised his objections to Tancredo's endorsement in the weekly House Republican Conference meeting Wednesday. He distributed a flyer about Tancredo's endorsement and a story that appeared Tuesday in CongressDailyPM.

Tancredo defended himself at the Conference meeting by noting Republicans had embraced Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, a former Democrat who remained an independent before eventually running as a Republican.

A Tancredo spokesman said Tancredo is a "lifelong Republican" who has won repeated elections in Colorado, and said it was "silly" for Issa to issue threats about revoking his party membership.

The spokesman noted Gilchrist wanted to run as a Republican, but state law would not allow him to change his party affiliation to the GOP in time for the special election. Gilchrist sent a letter Monday to House Speaker Hastert offering to caucus with Republicans if he is elected.

"He is going to caucus with Republicans and he is for all intents and purposes a Republican," the Tancredo spokesman said.

The spokesman added Tancredo has not committed to supporting Gilchrist in any runoff.

"I think that is an open question. We haven't made any decision right now," he said.

Republican state Sen. John Campbell is considered the frontrunner in next week's open primary, but he must win over 50 percent of the vote to avoid a Dec. 6 runoff.

Campbell, who faces significant GOP opposition from former state Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer, would advance to the runoff if he captures more votes than any other GOP candidate.

Issa has endorsed Campbell and said he is confident Campbell will eventually be elected to Congress

"He is so far ahead. There's really only a question about whether he gets 51 percent or not," Issa said.