Cannon played a major role as one of the House managers during President Bill Clinton's impeachment, then purposefully withdrew from the media spotlight to distance himself from that controversy.

By taking up the standard on immigration reform for the Bush administration, he's back in the national eye.

"America is blessed by God," he says. "We have a huge responsibility to transfer those blessings to the people of the world, and we can do that three ways — through our military, diplomatically and through business and technology. By allowing immigration, we can help people come to America, learn how to do things and go back home with a vision of democracy."

Cannon's brother Joe, chairman of the state Republican Party, says Chris Cannon enjoys the battle.

"Chris is a fighter," Joe Cannon says. "Chris is very strongly driven, more strongly driven than most people I know, even in politics, by ideas and by public policy."

If Cannon passes his test against Throckmorton in Tuesday's primary, Democratic challenger Beau Babka awaits him in the November general election.

If he does land a fifth term, Cannon promises to continue to envision the possibilities at play in American public policy and try to make them reality.

"What's going to be important in 10 years?" Cannon asks himself, over and over, followed by the practical question: "What changes do we need to make today to make it happen?"

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com