With the Iowa caucuses over and attention shifting to the New Hampshire primary, Colorado Democratic leaders are wasting no time blasting presumed GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, with party officials focusing on what they say is the former Massachusetts governor’s hard line stance on illegal immigration.
Governor Romney won Colorado’s Republican caucuses handily in 2008, before eventually losing to Senator John McCain. As he’s tried to win support from his party’s base this year, Romney has emerged as one of the more hard-line candidates on immigration, speaking out against Democratic initiatives such as the DREAM Act.
At a news conference, State Rep. Dan Pabon (D-Denver) predicted Romney will alienate Latino voters in swing-state Colorado.
"He continues to go further to the right and pander to the Tea Party and the Tancredo crowd, saying and standing for anything he believes will get him elected.
Latino voters in states like Colorado played a key role in sending President Obama to the White House in 2008. Republicans are quick to point to recent polls though that have shown the economy to be a bigger issue than immigration among the voting block this year.
