With only $110,000 in campaign funds, Rep. Tom Tancredo’s new tv ad, filled with imaginary terror threats, sounds like a last-ditch effort to go out with a bang.

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.

You can view the ad, which critics call fear-mongering, here.It seems Tancredo wants people to remember his run for the presidency and believes this gives him the most bang for the buck. In a message accompanying his ad, he 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.”

Memo to Rep. Tancredo: We’ve got the message. That’s why you only have $110k in contributions. The American people aren’t buying it.

Posted 11/14/2007 at 10:27 am by Jeralyn Merritt
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