Delegates
to Utah's state GOP convention dealt entrenched four-term
Congressman Chris Cannon a stunning political blow Saturday
when he failed to gather enough support to avoid a primary
battle against a young challenger who made Cannon's
stand on illegal immigration his major campaign issue.
Salt
Lake City's Deseret News called the upset a "shocker,"
and identified immigration as the deciding factor in
challenger Matt Throckmorton's successful bid -- on
which he spent all of $11,115 -- to face Cannon in the
Republican primary on June 22.
After
the vote, Cannon, who outspent Throckmorton more than
18-1 in the campaign, complained
to the Deseret News about the influence of
money in the contest. "A lot of money has come
into this race from out of state," he said, "all
over the misinterpreted phrase 'amnesty.'"
|
ProjectUSA
billboard (Utah, Apr-May, 2004)
One
of the five billboards in Utah that helped make
immigration the major issue in the race leading
up to the May 8 Republican state convention.
|
It
should be noted that the ProjectUSA billboards in Utah's
3rd District cost less than $2,000 to put up, and they
only advertised one simple statement, "Congressman
Chris Cannon wants amnesty for illegal aliens."
Since
Cannon, who
spent more than 100 times the cost of our billboards
($204,879) trying to quash the scrappy Throckmorton
campaign, is currently sponsoring five amnesty bills
in Congress, our billboards couldn't be more accurate.
As
it turns out, however, Cannon is technically, if unintentionally,
speaking the truth when he says that a lot of money
has poured into the race from out of state -- all over
the misinterpretation of the word "amnesty."
According
to Federal Election Commission data posted by The Center
For Responsive Politics, 94%
of the non-PAC contributions to Cannon's reelection
campaign have come from out of state -- the vast majority
of it from the Washington, DC metro area.
PACs,
meanwhile, have kicked
in $195,188 so far to make sure Cannon goes back
to Washington. Ninety-three percent of the PAC money
coming from business special interests -- many representing
industries
that profit by Cannon's creative interpretation
of the word "amnesty" or his efforts to raise
the import quotas on foreign labor.
|
opensecrets.org
US
Representative Chris Cannon
|
In
fact, the industry ranked
number two in giving to Cannon's reelection campaign
is the Computers/Internet industry -- a major beneficiary
of Cannon's annual campaign to increase the caps on
the H-1b and L-1 labor visas (See Matt Hayes' FoxNews.com
piece, "US
Tech Workers Bear Brunt of Immigration Policy,"
April 29).
And
the number
one "industry" giving to Chris Cannon?
Lobbyists.
Given
all this, Chris Cannon's complaint about out of state
money helping Throckmorton borders on the bizarre,
and, coupled with his refusal to own up to the
fact that his AgJOBS bill is an amnesty, should
raise eyebrows in Utah.
Saturday's
vote demonstrated that Utah Republicans aren't swallowing
the old line; even Utah's business-political-media
establishment, which had closed ranks around Cannon
before the convention vote, is showing signs of crumbling.
|
www.matt4utah.com
Matt
Throckmorton meeting with European delegation
to discuss immigration policies.
|
If
this trend spreads to other states, the Republican Party
will gain a major advantage over the Democratic Party
in appealing to the vast block of young voters -- among
whom voter participation is at historic lows -- increasingly
turned off by the old regime.
Cannon
faces a difficult choice between now and the June primary.
He can either come clean about his support for amnesties
and try to explain to voters why he aggressively supports
policies he knows his constituents overwhelmingly oppose,
or he can continue to deny it and let Throckmorton beat
him on integrity and clean government issues.
All
that aside, Matt Throckmorton and his campaign deserve
credit for a job well done, and a
big thank you from the millions of Americans who
want very much to see a more moderate US immigration
policy.
+== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+
Meanwhile,
we're already swinging into action for the second round,
and preparing for the eight other districts we've targeted
for the 2004 elections (one of which happens to be,
oddly enough, another interesting race developing in
Utah).
This
effort takes money, of course, so please don't forget
to take a minute and make a donation on our secure
online donation page.
Then,
help make sure the lesson Utah voters are teaching Washington,
DC is learned at the highest levels. Please call the
White House comment line and leave a message with the
operator:
I want President Bush to know that the
immigration policies and amnesties for illegal aliens
supported by Chris Cannon and Karl Rove are bad for
the country and bad for the Republican Party. I agree
with the majority of Americans that we need to end illegal
immigration -- not reward it like Congressman Cannon
wants to do -- and reduce legal immigration to traditional
sustainable levels.
White
House comment line 202 456 1111
+== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+
"Throckmorton
will see a lot of money and benefit from the distortion
of my stands on immigration policy."
Rep.
Chris Cannon on the upcoming primary battle
Deseret News, May 9
+== EMAIL OF THE WEEK ==+
Find
out what people in Utah are saying about Chris Cannon's
immigration policies. Go to http://projectusa.org/state/UT/03/index.html
and click on "Other Commentary"
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