Thread: Outside PAC spends $40,500 on Jacob

Thursday, June 22, 2006
Outside PAC spends $40,500 on Jacob

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ALAN CHOATE - Daily Herald
Alan Keyes isn't the only voice from outside Utah wanting to be heard in the immigration reform debate that's dominating the contest for the state's 3rd Congressional District.

Virginia-based Team America PAC has spent $40,500 supporting John Jacob in his bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

Cannon's campaign has criticized the involvement of an "outside group" in the campaign -- an interesting stance to take since much of Cannon's financial support also comes from outside Utah.

Republican voters will pick between Cannon and Jacob on Tuesday in a primary election. The winner will represent the party on November's general election ballot -- and given the GOP's overwhelming membership in Utah County, that person likely will be the district's congressman.

Cannon has been active in the immigration debate for some time and has argued for reforms that provide some method of legitimizing illegal residents who are already here -- people he says are important to the U.S. economy. Jacob has delineated a harsher approach focused on tight borders and penalties for illegal workers and those who hire them.

Team America created radio advertisements that mock Cannon's ideas on immigration reform and compare his record on the issue to U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

In response, Cannon's campaign has bankrolled a phone campaign featuring the recorded voice of Cannon's wife, Claudia. The message criticizes the intervention of outsiders in the race.

"It mentions that money from outside groups is being spent," said Nathan Rathbun, Cannon's campaign manager. "It has to do with these outside groups who have no connection to Utah."

Rathbun singled out Team America as the phone campaign's target.

"Their money, other than a small amount, does not come from Utah," he said. "The money that may be coming from outside supporting Chris Cannon ... they have given it to Chris because they support him and his ideals."

Recent finance reports show that more than half of Cannon's $815,000-plus war chest comes from corporate and special interest political action committees, many of them based out of state.

Among the larger donors are AT&T Corp., based in San Antonio; the National Restaurant Association, which has offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.; MCI, headquartered in Virginia; and the El Paso Corp., a natural gas company based in Houston.

Team America PAC's most recent finance report shows $658,300 in receipts for the 2005-06 election cycle. The report lists three Utah residents as donors. They gave a total of $10,108.

Team America was founded by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and is chaired by Bay Buchanan, sister of conservative media figure Pat Buchanan.

The PAC's immigration stance focuses solely on border security and enforcement and dismisses proposals for guest worker programs or a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants as "amnesty."

That's how they take aim at Cannon, accusing him of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. Cannon has called for a program where illegal residents would be fined and forced to leave the country before they could apply for legal status. President George Bush also supports reforms that include a process for people already in the country illegally.

"If you want to stop President George W. Bush's immigration bill, you must stop Utah Congressman Chris Cannon," states an announcement on www.teamamericapac.org, the group's Web site.

"Utah voters have a right to know if their congressman is deliberately deceiving them, especially on an issue as critical to the nation as illegal immigration," Buchanan said in a statement.

Rathbun said the group is bad for the GOP.

"Not only are they attacking Congressman Cannon -- they're attacking the Republican Party and they're attacking the president," Rathbun said. "They're dividing the Republican Party.

"It's going to do nothing but put the Democrats in power."

Jacob said he hasn't talked with Team America and that the debate doesn't pose a danger to the GOP.

"According to the rules, we cannot communicate," he said. "Frankly, I would've probably asked them not to do it. At the same time, they are expressing their opinion."

He also said he was heartened by the U.S. House's recent decision to hold hearings on immigration across the country rather than work with a Senate proposal that includes a citizenship route for illegal residents.

"It's about time," Jacob said. "I'm glad to be a part of that.

"I don't see how this divides the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is much weaker on immigration than the Republican Party."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/183695/4/

"It mentions that money from outside groups is being spent," said Nathan Rathbun, Cannon's campaign manager. "It has to do with these outside groups who have no connection to Utah."

I beg to differ. I admit it has been a long time since I took geography but last time I checked Utah was "connected" to the rest of the country and is in fact a state in the Union.