Posted on 06/26/2006 1:25:47 PM PDT by Dane
Posted by Chuck Muth June 25, 2006 at 4:46 pm
JOHN JACOB DINGLE-BERRY SCHMIDT
The old axiom that Republicans never blow an opportunity to blow an opportunity has never been more in play than in this Tuesday’s GOP primary race in Utah’s 3rd congressional district.
Challenger John Jacob had the money to credibly take on incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon. And he had the hottest of red-hot issues: illegal immigration. Cannon, after all, is well known as a champion of amnesty for illegal aliens and Jacob has been successfully pounding him on it. In addition, Rep. Tom Tancredo’s Team America PAC, led by fire-breathing pit-bull Bay Buchanan, has been hammering Cannon unmercifully in radio ads urging voters to support Jacob.
On issue after issue, Cannon and Jacob, both conservative Republicans, generally found themselves in agreement. But on the immigration issue, they were polar opposites. The entire race, with national implications, would likely turn on this one issue. And the tide was running in Jacob’s direction.
And then the wheels started popping off the apple cart…
IS THAT MY FOOT? HERE, LET ME SHOOT IT
First came the story about how Jacob had unlawfully given money to an immigrant family. Oops. There are details and explanations to the story…but what kind of voter pays attention to details?
Then there was the story about Jacob’s “gambling problem.” Jacob, a Mormon, eventually admitted to gambling in Las Vegas during the Nationals Finals Rodeo…a no-no according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Oops, again.
Then Jacob was forced to admit he had his figures regarding the number of illegals in a Utah prison all wrong. On the campaign trail, Jacob had been telling audiences that 40 percent of prisoners in the Central Utah Correctional Facility were illegal aliens. This week, he had to admit that it was only 8 percent. Oops.
Then last Tuesday, Tad Walch of the Deseret Morning News reported on Jacob’s “FastPass” idea for illegal aliens based roughly on Disneyland’s ticket program which allows some people to go straight to the front of the line. Apparently, Jacob is thinking that illegals who can prove they’ve been in the U.S. for 10 or 20 years would return to the their home country and obtain a FastPass which would put them at the front of the immigration line and allow them to return to the U.S. legally.
To which The Amnesty King responded: “It sounds like what some supporting you call an amnesty.”
Um, yeah.
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
But punting away the winning amnesty issue and all the rest could likely be the least of the Jacob campaign’s worries. On Friday he went off the deep end, likely scaring the be-jeepers out of even the most religious of conservatives in Utah and around the country. Here’s the campaign-crushing Associated Press story from Friday…
“Republican congressional hopeful John Jacob believes the devil is impeding his efforts to unseat five-term Representative Chris Cannon. He says there’s another force that wants to keep him from going to Washington and the devil is what it is. Jacob says that since he decided to run for Congress, Satan has disrupted his business deals, preventing him from putting as much money into the race as he had hoped.”
What the…?
And this wasn’t just a one-time slip of the tongue in the middle of a bad Timothy Leary-like acid trip. Jacob first blamed devil for his campaign troubles at an immigration event on Wednesday, and then reiterated the claim in front of Salt Lake Tribune editors the very next day. And already the story has traveled halfway around the world.
“A candidate seeking the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Utah has blamed the devil for problems with his campaign,” reports London’s The Independent newspaper today. “John Jacob, a businessman aiming to oust Republican incumbent Chris Cannon in a party primary this week, told The Salt Lake Tribune that since he had decided to try for Congress, the devil had disrupted his business deals…” The paper added that “Mr. Jacob asked the (Tribune) not to quote him about Satan because he would be marked as ‘one of those screw-loose people’.”
Gee, do ya think?
Now, I know Mormons are very religious folks, but even the most devout must be scratching their heads this weekend wondering if Jacob might be a few fries short of a Happy Meal. As one fellow Mormon close to this race wrote to me after reading about this bizarre charge: “He’s toast. Extra crispy.”
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?
The Jacob campaign is now in full panic mode, with the candidate trying to explain away the unexplainable. “I think the way I tried to explain it was in the last ten months I’ve had more adversity than I’ve had in the last ten years,” Jacob is now saying. “So chalk it up to whom you’d like.”
Um, how ’bout the Tooth Fairy?
The supreme irony here is that Cannon is every bit the “loose screw” that Jacob now appears to be. He once told me face-to-face after the impeachment hearings that he believed the Chinese had implanted a chip into Bill Clinton’s head and that the former president was completely under the control of the ChiComs.
OK, OK. Maybe that’s NOT quite as bizarre as the devil stuff. But it’s close.
In any event, it now appears that the best opportunity to take out the Provo Prevaricator has gone up in smoke. Then again, if the devil can mess up Jacob, maybe the Big Guy upstairs - who, after all, does work in mysterious ways - can still pull out a miracle on Tuesday. Let us pray…
So you are willing to put into office a man that has all the earmarks of an un-stable personality? I agree it is Utah's election and right to vote for who they want BUT it is also a national concern when it comes to congressmen that will vote on issue far beyond illegal immigration. I might add that Congress is NOT going to pass a bill on this issue before November and after November the issue will be put off until the 2008 cycle and it will meet the same fate.
"WE BELIEVE that our Nation needs to control the borders...and that Cannon does not.
Just going by his voting record on this issue is enough."
I definitely agree with you. Although it's amazing how people can support this guy when his voting record speaks for itself. It's right there in black and white. Churchill said that the truth is incontrovertible. And the truth is that Cannon is an open borders proponent. He only voted for the House bill for self serving reasons, not for the good of this country.
Jacobs will do fine in Congress.
redrock
Utah Lawmaker Pushes for Illegal Alien Amnesty
By Matt Hayes
FoxNews.com
April 01, 2004
On March 24, the House Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing called “How Would Millions of Guest Workers Impact Working Americans and Americans Seeking Employment?”
The hearing took place in connection with various “guest worker” bills pending before Congress. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, a committee member, has spent extraordinary resources trying to convince voters that the bill he co-sponsors is not an amnesty, though it would not prosecute the millions of illegal aliens who have committed a crime by entering or remaining in the U.S. without a current visa. Instead, it would give them a work permit.
Cannon, a lawmaker, has openly expressed his contempt for the distinction between legal and illegal immigration. “We love immigrants in Utah. We don’t make the distinction very often between legal and illegal,” he said on June 6, 2002, as he received an Excellence in Leadership award from MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Cannon’s remarks are entirely consistent with the beliefs of MALDEF’s co-founder, Mario Obledo, who said in June 1998 “California is going to be a Hispanic state and anyone who doesn't like it should leave. They should go back to Europe.”
I don't think they're bumpkins. I think Jacob is, and they are less offended by his comment than many other people would be. But that doesn't make them bumpkins, just more used to them.
You seemed to associate me with the "left coast," which is ignorant and insulting. You should write more carefully if you don't want to tangle with me.
Do you know if Super Del Is his campaign manager?
bttt
Once again, Chuck Muth declares defeat before a single vote has been cast.
Unfortunately, some folks are more concerned about protecting their status as commentators than they are in winning for the conservative movement.
So now Chuck is reduced to propagating lying spin for Chris Cannon?
Makes a guy wonder if he isn't on Cannon's payroll again.
What?
Y'all didn't know that the writer of this piece was once on Chris Cannon's payroll?
Dang...kinda changes the picture a little, doesn't it...
OOoooh, is that a threat.
Really, what does Dell Schanze have to do with this election. Stay focused if you can?
Super Dell blamed all his problems on Satan too. People who can't stay focused do that.
The primary doesn't interest me that much because both Jacobs and Cannon are strong conservatives.
The primary would be more entertaining if the contest was between Brian Bilbray and Chris Cannon.
Dear Lord, one who votes right on one of the most important issues today and wrong on everything else, and one who votes wrong on one of the most important issues and votes right on everyone else. What a ghastly set of choices.
BTTT
Californians have found out the hard way that "cheap labor" ISN'T cheap!
"Yeah I have noticed that. It is really embarrassing."
What's really embarassing is you shilling for illegal aliens and doing so with Texas as part of your screen name.
You need to change it or git out of Texas.
Would like to see some more predictions from knowledgeable people before the Utah polls close: What will Cannon get, and what will Jacob get? My prediction: Cannon wins by about 10.
He supports illegal aliens all the time.
Yum, jalapeno koolaid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.