Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he was running to be California’s governor on "The Tonight Show" and back in 2004, John Edwards launched his presidential campaign on cable television’s "The Daily Show." Today, a Republican candidate went on an Iowa radio station to announce he’s running for president.

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo said he chose "talk radio" to make his presidential campaign announcement because the medium had given voice to his call for immigration reform. "It’s been about eight years that I’ve been in congress and I have done probably 1800 or more talk radio shows…on the issue of illegal immigration," Tancredo said this morning on WHO Radio. "…It’s given me a megaphone that I never would have had. It’s allows you to talk directly to the American people. There’s no filter in between…and I’m convinced that it is talk radio that has allowed us to get where we are today."

Tancredo calls illegal immigration a "crisis" of enormous proportion. "We are fighting far-flung battles in lands far away from the United States and we’re doing that to defend the nation," Tancredo said. "But this battle over immigration is really to define the nation."

Tancredo estimates there are as many as 20 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. today – about six times the population of the state of Iowa. "I think that this crisis is not only an economic crisis. I think that it threatens the very idea of America," Tancredo said. "…The melting pot is cracked."

Tancredo asserts that none of the other presidential candidates are offering the right answer and too many current leaders have "forgotten" and "ignored" illegal immigration. "It’s one of the most serious problems facing the country," Tancredo said. "And therefore because this field does not offer me…that particular characteristic…I am going to run for President of the United States."

 

AUDIO: Henderson report :48 MP3