Thread: Border Security Advocate Says Cannon Defeat Indicates Amnest

Border Security Advocate Says Cannon Defeat Indicates Amnesty A Losing Issue
By: Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
06/27/2008

Years of controversy over proposed amnesty for illegal aliens provoked continuous insistence from high-immigration advocates that the issue doesn't hurt them at the voting booth. Case-in-point: Chris Cannon.

But after serving six two-year terms, the Republican Utah congressman lost to border-enforcement proponent Jason Chaffetz by a 20-point margin in Tuesday's primary.

Restrictionists have long viewed Mr. Cannon as the GOP representative most hostile to their agenda. Conservative on most issues, he stood apart from the majority of House Republicans in his support of legal status for unlawful entrants.

Roy Beck, executive director of the nonpartisan low-immigration advocacy group NumbersUSA.com, believes the voter's message was simple: Voters don't desire a limitless immigration policy.

"He's always been a really big leader for amnesty," Mr. Beck said of the congressman. He noted that the staff of NumbersUSA, which sent copious information on Mr. Cannon to their subscribers in Utah via e-mail, was "just thrilled" at Mr. Chaffetz's victory and held a party celebrating it.

Polls consistently show that at least two-thirds of American voters object to any legalizing of the roughly 12 million unlawful immigrants in the country, according to University of Maryland government professor James G. Gimpel. Nonetheless, restrictionist candidates have had difficulty using the issue to their electoral advantage because it often doesn't figure prominently in voters' considerations.

"It's because lots of people can go about their daily lives without ever thinking about the issue until a pollster asks them," Dr. Gimpel said. "It took some time [to defeat Mr. Cannon] and it took awhile for the news of the incongruence of his position [with that of his district's voters] to become widely known. And it also obviously took some time to recruit a quality opponent."

Mr. Chaffetz shares all of the positions NumbersUSA holds on restricting immigration, both illegal and not. He supports ending the visa lottery program and birthright citizenship.

Mr. Beck acknowledges that it took Mr. Cannon's adversaries many attempts before they finally brought him down. (His organization worked in an educational role, without making endorsements or providing legwork; activist Bay Buchanan's Team America PAC coordinated the electoral effort.) But he further noted the congressman's stature as a proponent of amnesty and believes that restrictionists may carry that momentum forward into other races against pro-mass immigration incumbents.

"There are several others worse than him," he said.

Mr. Cannon was adept at concealing his position on amnesty, Mr. Beck said, by averring that he opposed it and suggesting that he only supported "guest worker programs." But Mr. Cannon did support truncated legislation to legalize some illegal constituencies, such as those working in agriculture.

"Cannon has been able for years to get the news media, both national and local, to run along with his charade," Mr. Beck said. "That's been enough to pull him out [of electoral trouble] and this time it just didn't work. We're hoping that maybe these pro-amnesty incumbents will not be able to run from their voting records this time."

Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cf ... 6361&rfi=8

Why are we being labeled restrictionists?

"He's always been a really big leader for amnesty," Mr. Beck said of the congressman. He noted that the staff of NumbersUSA, which sent copious information on Mr. Cannon to their subscribers in Utah via e-mail, was "just thrilled" at Mr. Chaffetz's victory and held a party celebrating it.

AND MR. MCCAIN IS ALSO A REALLY BIG SUPPORTER OF AMNESTY, IN FACT HE WROTE THE INFAMOUS AMNESTY BILL OF 2007 WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY MR. MCCAIN WILL MOST LIKELY NOT WIN AND WILL MOST LIKELY FACE THE SAME FATE AS MR.Cannon.

Neither one of them care to listen to the will of the people and to the problems the people have clearly expressed they have faced as a result of illegal immigration.

Instead of Mr. McCain speaking to LA Raza behind closed doors he should be speaking to ALIPAC and NumbersUSA in an open forum.

Polls consistently show that at least two-thirds of American voters object to any legalizing of the roughly 12 million unlawful immigrants in the country, according to University of Maryland government professor James G. Gimpel. Nonetheless, restrictionist candidates have had difficulty using the issue to their electoral advantage because it often doesn't figure prominently in voters' considerations.

Mr. Chaffetz shares all of the positions NumbersUSA holds on restricting immigration, both illegal and not. He supports ending the visa lottery program and birthright citizenship.

Here's the will of the people in plain English for Mr. McCain to read, hear and see and he still won't get it just as Mr. Cannon never grasped the reality of the situation and as a result he is no longer a member of the U.S. Congress.

No Demacrates don't want to bring up comprehensive imigration.....they want to sneak it in piece by piece in bills such as Iraq spending, and they will every chance they get.

Restrictionist , Nativists : whatever deragatory labels the open borders and chamber of Biz Interests can think up to stick on us they will make up as they go along trying to import cheap labor for them to profit off of.
It changes nothing - we can still vote them out of office and block their legislation as long as we do not allow ourselves to be fooled again.
We all know Obama's position on the issues quite well - and can block his initiatives as has been done before.
But ask yourself this - if McStain wins - the Trans Texas corridor - Shadow market oil manipulation - rampant Washington DC corruption ( Oh well, two out of three ain't bad ) will continue unabated.
I truly hope all the " Zombie " core republicans on this board are paying attention. ( Yes - you know who you are and that you voted for Bush twice! )