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Utah Republicans: Cannon hangs on for primary race
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I can't help but wonder sometimes, how many votes would David Duke get if he was a candidate in District 3?
One other thing. On his website, Jason Chaffetz talks about supporting a line-item veto. That's all well and good, but since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that the line-item veto was unconstitutional, the only way a line-item veto can become law is by adding an amendment to the constitution.
I am however, disappointed that Jason didnt win by one percentage point more. How long do we have to put up with the incompetence of Chris Cannon? How long do we have to put up to a representative that parrots what is told him by the GOP leadership in Washington. Chris would rather be like by his political peers than stand up for something unpopular. We need to vote the bum out.
Congratulations to Jason Chaffetz for earning more than 60% of the legal delegate vote at the convention, which, had the rules of the party been properly enforced, (which will never happen as long as Stan Lockhart is chair and as long as he appoints Senator Curt Bramble to chair the credentials committee), would have been enough for a knock-out win.
Condolences to Jason Chaffetz for being robbed by the same illegal delegate racket that robbed as many as four candidates in the Utah County Republican Convention two weeks ago.
Congratulations to the delegates in Congressional District 3 for not being fooled by David Leavitt's stalking horse candidacy to deny Chaffetz the nomination in tag-team combination with Chris Cannon.
Good luck Jason on June 24th.
And great reporting, Bob and Leigh, from someone who was there.
That just goes to show what the Utah Republican delegates are made of.
Ron Paul. Wow.
Let me guess....the eagle forum lives!
It is best to rid the public of all this trash at the voting box
No more incumbunts.
How can you do better with the old stupid ideas of someone 81 years old?
4 or 5 terms in office
All of these people are MILLION Aires
Why would they want to spend their time in office
and ruin their lives and others
You are pathethic sir. Both Clinton and Obama are Marist-Lenist socialists. Have you listened to them?....particularly to Obama? Don't tell me you are a progressive or a moderate? You are just wrong. So far, for me without Romney, it is just the three amigos in the presidential race, with Obama likely to knock Clinton out by June. Both of them are not good. We don't need a rap artist in the White House.....a great orator....you have to be kidding? I don't believe you people about Cannon. If Chaffetz wins, he will be at the bottom of the totem pole in a Nancy Pelosi headed democrat House of Representatives. Cannon would have much more influence. Go Cannon!!!
Not to worry. When Utah gets enough illegal aliens Chaffetz is a lead pipe cinch to win.
As a former delegate I met with him. He started by meeting all of the delegates he could from prior election cycles. He wouldn't take a stand on so many issues, to include immigration. He was aware that it was an issue but wouldn't identify any positions about it at all.
Once he gets the feeling that being zenophobic is the answer, he is off and running.
He is a Dukakis/Obama type Democrat and if the voters of Utah are pathetic enough to send him to Washington, they will rue the day!
I am a conservative Republican but I have to say that the Populist/Mike Ridgeway trash and burn, scorched earth party and tactics is just about reached its limit for me. I simply cannot stand the racist, xenophobic America they dream of.
Here's what happened after Mr. Leavitt was eliminated in the 2nd round of voting. The Leavitt and Cannon campaigns disregarded Convention rules by having 20 or 30 supporters wear Leavitt t-shirts and carry Cannon signs down onto the Convention floor during the meeting. These partisans were admonished to leave the floor by the Convention Chair and finally did leave.
Subsequently, Mr. Cannon and Mr. Leavitt appeared on the Convention floor, while Convention business was being conducted, shaking hands with delegates and trying to make their new political point.
This latter action by Cannon and Leavitt, coming after breaking convention rules with the parade of signs, is what upset the Chaffetz supporters. It seemed to be a further disregard of the rules and not playing fair and square. And yes, there was some booing at this point.
Remember this good people of the Third District, Cannon is not vying for election to serve the Utah people, but rather in service of his own ego and pocket book. Chaffetz is a good man who has had to rise on his own without the efforts of his forefathers. He has earned in sweat everything he has achieved. He protects the Constitution and in electing him, you will help swing the tide of the destructive path this country is on.
He has no money.
He has no name id.
And he has no chance.
In the end he'll be just another bump in the road to Chris Cannon winning the nomination just like, Matt Throckmorton and John Jacobs.
The only difference is this bump in the road is found in the 2nd Congressional District instead of the 3rd, where Chaffetz the opportunistic, carpet-bagger lives.
Chaffetz didn't run against Matheson in the 2nd because he knew he didn't have the resources (money) to win in the general election. Likwise, he knows he doesn't have the resources to go up against Cannon in a primary election. Chaffetz only hope was to win it outright with 60% at convention, which he failed to do and so it is just a matter of time, 6 weeks and 2 days to be exact, until Cannon officially wins the nomination. But unofficially everybody who knows anything about politics knows this race is over: Cannon is the nominee and will return to DC.
Since the Des News is is being overseen by Chris Cannon's brother, this is article is hardly true.
Kudos to Leavitt for throwing his support behind Cannon (something that he did not have to do). The Chaffetz supporters were not mad Leavitt and Cannon "broke rules", they were mad that Leavitt secured the primary for Cannon. If he had done the same for Chaffetz, they would have been pleased. If Chaffetz hadn't smeared Leavitt so much, he might have made it out of the convention. I guess that mud-slinging doesn't always pay.
When your name is Jason Chaffetz and you just missed 60%-ing the convention by 10 votes and now you'll probably lose the primary by 10,000 votes.
Yes that's what happens when you have no money and no name id and you are going up against Cannon in a primary in just 6 short weeks.
Chaffetz did it to himself. His own aggressiveness was his downfall. He made a huge error at convention, which cost him the nomination. He personally attacked Leavitt with a last minute, negative, convention flier. Leavitt and his supporters didn't like it. They thought it was unfair, untrue and eventually threw their support behind Cannon.
Aggressively attacking your opponent in a multi-ballot situation where you are going to need your opponent's support in the final ballot round to get 60% is a gigantic mental and strategic mistake.
It's kind of like the survivor reality tv show. The guy who ticks everyone off to get to the final round ususally loses to the nice guy who flew under the radar.
Did the delegates know that Huntsman and those who worked with Chaffetz will not support Chaffetz?
Did the delegates know that David Leavitt feels very strongly that if Chaffetz got into Congress we'd all have some serious problems?
I am a long time state delegate who was dissappointed and embarrassed by the lack of civility displayed by many Chaffetz supporters. The Chaffetz campaign was targeted at the most militant conservative portions of the party and promoted an environment of anger and unkindness.
I have no doubt his campaign will fail terribly moving into the Primary where the non militant are still a majority.
The rules were clear to all (hence the loud booing by almost everyone on the floor, not just 3rd district delegates). Some believe they are above the rule of law.
The problem is the Democrats aren't any better. While I am voting for Obama save either a shared Hilary OR Romney ticket, I have little faith in that party either. Frankly, I am disappointed in the whole political mess.
Not like Caffetz has a icecube's chance in Haiti in this primary. You can bully delegates, but voters won't carry the political furor that motivated those at the convention.
Orrin Hatch is another man who thinks he is unstoppable. He probably is. The only time he ever shows for anything is when he is running for relection. He always shows up for the Temple Square Broadcasts when he is running for relection and they always mention he is there. He is as corrupt as the next politican. Most of them are.
Glad the shot him down on the McCain suggestion.
This delegate is very conservative and populist. In the past they have told me that they know deporting 20 million illegal aliens isn't practical but they still want to give it a shot.
This delegate felt that Chaefetz taking such a tough position on illegal immigration and appearing to be of Hispanic heritage made them more comfortable with taking a hard line.
I have no idea how many delegates feel this way but I find it very interesting. Like when the Utah Minutemen had a nice, a little over the top, gentleman who was a third or fourth generation Mexican-American as spokesman. It allowed people to fully vent without being pegged as racist.
It could have been the perfect storm for Chaefetz at a convention. Primary voters will be different.
What I am amazed at is the sheer hatred that many feel, to the point of losing logic and reason. Many of these extreme conservatives are just plain old driven by emotion, without reservation for consideration.
Who was that guy? He spoke about Thomas Jefferson and a united Utah.
Well, whoever you are, RUN!
The Washington cabinet is bare, but new, dynamic supplies are on the way!
Go get 'em Jason!
That said, Chaffetz did show he had a more hard line stance on immigration. I don't agree with it (though I still support him over Cannon). Maybe it did hurt him. However, to say he is a xenophobe is the typical "racist" finger-pointing seen from the left. You can seek immigration reform and not be an evil person. And to say all he did was attack others is a farce - he ran on issues and that is why he had so much support.
It doesn't matter how "conservative" you are on any random issue, if you aren't conservative on THE most important issues. Illegal immigration is the biggest issue facing us today, and it affects verything from the environment, wages, culture, health care, education, politics, ad infinitum. If you're not conservative on that issue, then you aren't conservative at all.
*** "I can't help but wonder sometimes, how many votes would David Duke get if he was a candidate in District 3?" ***
Spare us. Immigration policy is determined by Congress, and the makeup of Congress is determined by we, the people. I guess to you it's perfectly OK for hundreds of members of the cheap labor lobby to meet routinely behind closed doors for the purpose of getting looser immigration laws to fatten their wallet. But for citizens as a group to address the issue openly, via the election system, is racist.
The lobbyists are the ones "wearing the hoods," not those of us who want enforcement.
I also find pictures of the 2 candidates in the paper interesting. One shows Cannon with wife and kids. The other shows Chaffetz up on the dais - alone. Reminds me of the sleazy ad by Karl Snow in the 1990 3rd district race, with Snow's family juxtaposed with Orton's "family" (just Orton himself, as he was single at the time).
Wonder if his brother the editor had anything to do with it?
I was in WalMart two days ago and happened to pass through the Politicking department on my way to the Junk Food aisle. I noticed that every shelf where they normally stock Sleaze was completely empty. I asked the guy at the counter and he said that a heavy set guy from Mapleton had come in with his seven kids and cleaned out every WalMart store from Payson to Murray.
Be prepared, Chaffetz.
Cannon was booed, not by angry Chaffetz supporters, but by everyone because he broke the rules! Cannon and Leavitt conducted themselves in the most embarrassing manner possible yesterday. And party leaders allowed it!
Jason, take it to the machine and get us out of this black hole establishment!
But we won't really know until we have Chaffetz in office, will we?
The real problem with incumbents is that they feel invincible, bulletproof. If turnover were a bit higher; if more of them got defeated running for re-election they might actually feel the need to listen more to the voters than to their cronies and contributors.
Elect Chaffetz. If he does a lousy job we're only stuck with him for 2 years, then we can throw him out.
It�s time for a change folks, but it will only happen if you talk to your friends and neighbors and get them out to vote.
As for me and my house...NO WAY!
There were three witnesses listed on the flyer (although only two were named - the other was a television reporter). Is Leavitt saying those witnesses lied? Is he saying this was not his position? Or is he saying it's inappropriate to talk about differences on issues? What is the objection?
I thought Leavitt was practically daring Chaffetz to make the distinction. He's been telling people since last week's debate that they are the same on the issues. He said the only difference between them was money. Of course Chaffetz is going to try to show that they're different! And he used a quote from a meeting on Friday, May 9. How can you take issue with that?
Please explain to me why the flyer was inappropriate or dishonest.
I was at the convention and I could hardly believe the rude, boorish behavior of some delegates, 99% of them wearing Chaffetz shirts. I attended one of Chaffetz's town meetings and left with the impression that he will be for whatever his audience wants. He pushes whatever get the loudest cheers. That's called pandering, I think.
I was also surprised at how extreme Republican "leadership" seems, when the majority of Republican voters are more rational. I was warned of that before the convention, though.
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