Tancredo tells Bush to take a hike

Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) said at the Republican presidential debate Tuesday night that he would tell President Bush to not “darken the doorstep of the White House” if he were to win the presidency.

{mosads}Tancredo said top White House adviser Karl Rove once told him the same thing when he was at odds with Bush. Asked whether the current president would play a role in his own administration, Tancredo said, “I would have to tell George Bush exactly the same thing Karl Rove told me.”

The lawmaker noted that he disagreed with Bush on many things, not just his signature issue of immigration. Tancredo also mentioned the prescription drug bill and No Child Left Behind as other examples.

The lawmaker, who is running a long-shot bid for the White House, also held no punches when it came to immigration, reiterating that he would campaign against any Republican who is supporting the bipartisan legislation currently making its way through the Senate.

“I am willing to do whatever is necessary to try to stop this piece of legislation,” Tancredo said at the New Hampshire debate. “And that includes go after any Republican that votes for it, because the Republicans can stop this.”

In all, the debate saw several other candidates take shots at the administration, especially its Iraq policy. The topic of the war was the predominant issue of the debate, but candidates also extensively discussed immigration and their values.