Tancredo's Tactics Draw On His Collegiate Activism

When the demonstrators had finished with Tom Tancredo's table in the University of Northern Colorado's Student Center in the mid-1960s, it looked more like Sunday morning at a fraternity house than a political forum.

The student who would eventually become Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) and the three other members of the campus branch of Young Americans for Freedom had just seen their conservative pamphlets and books swept to the floor, their table overturned and his character shredded on the floor of the school's student center by an angry group of protesters.

As a young political activist, Tancredo made a name for himself at UNC by founding his own branch of YAF and immediately making it the most politically active group on campus.

"You can't imagine how volatile things were on campus," Tancredo said, chuckling at the memory in a recent interview with Scoop08. "There would always be a ruckus."

But rather than pack up and quit like the campus administration appealed for, the resolute Tancredo returned following week with fresh literature and a campus security guard.

Not much has changed. These days the often controversial candidate seems to have a gift for attracting attention, only now on a much larger stage. So much so, in fact, that his presence has occasionally ignited violent protests at scheduled appearances. Tancredo, who cut his political teeth debating liberal peers during the Vietnam War, may be able to get a rise out of students, but does that translate into a focus on young people in his campaign?

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