Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who as 5280 publisher Dan Brogan noted, was the butt of jokes on Saturday Night Live this past week, spoke at a luncheon yesterday at the Denver Athletic Club.

As thousands of people turned out in Colorado to protest the punitive immigration bills endorsed by Tom Tancredo, only 35 people attended the luncheon to hear him speak.

Tancredo told the News:

“I am pleased beyond measure that the issue has reached a point where I am not the prime mover on it.”

Is he really?

By my count, he did four television interviews yesterday. He’ll be the keynote speaker at a Tyler, Texas fundraiser Thursday night.

He also told a news reporter today,

….if none of the leading Republican candidates for the White House take up the issue and run hard on immigration, he’s willing to take that place and campaign for president to bring this issue to the forefront. He said that he has alot of support in some of the early primary states.