Tancredo Drops Bid for Presidency

Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Congressman who campaigned for the White House on a stridently anti-immigration message, withdrew from the Republican race today, two weeks before the first votes are cast.

Tancredo gained media notoriety for a campaign ad warning that Islamic terrorists freely roam American soil, and his hard line rhetoric pushed his fellow Republicans to advocate increasingly punitive measures against illegal immigrants.

But the attention - while elevating immigration as a major campaign issue - did not translate into popular support.

Tancredo registered at about 1% in the national opinion polls, and between 3 - 6% in Iowa, which holds its caucuses on January 3.

His departure leaves seven Republican candidates in the race. Tancredo threw his support behind Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.