Life on the GOP Second Tier

Life on the GOP Second Tier: Candidates Show Priorities

The Register and others are all over the GOP second tier today, and the candidates are really starting to show their priorities.

Sam Brownback, campaigning with Terri Schaivo's brother. Kind of says it all.

Tom Tancredo, delving deeper into Know-Nothing nativism, wants to deport children who are U.S. citizens: "I still say: You deport the parents, the child goes with them," he said.

Mike Huckabee, seeking the compassionate conservative niche, goes a different route on immigration and gets a nice quote:

An observer asked why Huckabee uses the term "illegal immigrant" instead of "alien."

Tom Tancredo, another Republican presidential candidate, has defended his use of "alien" on the campaign trail to describe people in the country illegally.

"Well, 'alien' sounds like they are from outer space," Huckabee said. "They are fellow human beings."

Huckabee also says: fourth or better in Ames or I'm done.

Tommy Thompson -- both The Other Tom and The Other Thompson -- seeks something, anything to distinguish his campaign. Comes up with: national referendum in Iraq on US presence there.

John McCain -- this second tier company is really where he belongs now -- is reverting to his Screw Iowa strategy from 2000 and hanging out in New Hampshire.

And Jim Gilmore is quitting the race entirely. Did anyone even notice he was running? He did so poorly that he may have even damaged the backup plan: a Virginia Senate run when John Warner quits.

Taking bets on who quits the race next: my money's on Duncan Hunter.