I am a state delegate and voting for Cannon on Saturday. He's experienced, thoughtful and the only candidate in a position to make a difference for Utah.

If you aren't a delegate you can't even begin to understand how strange Leavitt has been this campaign. He's running for stake president, not congressman.

Chaffetz has been just rotten. He's poked at Cannon and taken convenient positions just to get the support of the fringe. Does anyone remember that he was a Democrat that slammed on Reagan? Does anyone recall that he lives in Matheson's district? At least he's actually talking issues though. Leavitt hasn't taken a position on anything that I can tell yet.

I'm surprised that Bush endorsed Cannon despite Congressman Cannon's criticisms of No Child Left Behind and the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill. As a state delegate I have been to a meeting where David Leavitt told me that Cannon doesn't have influence, but that's hard to square with the fact that the President says otherwise.

While I agree with much of what Jason Chaffetz has said, I hope that this endorsement will scare him away from running against Cannon and encourage him to run against Jim Matheson. After all, Chaffetz lives in Matheson's district.

No, Chaffetz isn't going anywhere, although I totally agree he should be running in his OWN district. But the filing deadline is up which means he can't file again until the 2010 elections. He won't do that because he's invested too much in this election cycle.
Also, Leavitt is right on when he says Cannon doesn't have the influence everyone makes such a big deal about. Cannon has done well in my opinion but has had his time. Let's let someone else garner seniority and cultivate (not garner, but CULTIVATE) influence while we wait for Republicans to take back the majority.

In a letter to me in regard to immigration issues by Rep. Cannon, dated 25 Apr, he says the following:

"Communiy'based policing is a powerfulo law enforcment tool. By developing strong ties with local communities, police departments obtain valuable information allowing them to fight crime, keep kids off drugs, and combat gang violence in neighborhoods. In commumities where people are afraid to to talk to local police, more crimes go unreported and fewer witnesses come forward."

In other words, he has no intention of supporting any effort asking our largest law enforcement force (our local police agencies) to enforce our immigration laws. He is taking the stance that "it's a federal problem", and is not willing to involve those who run into the criminal illegal aliens most, our local police department officers.

I am reminded of Al Burns, who died at the hands of an illegal alien, who jumped bail after killing Mr. Burns in Spanish Fork. Rep. Cannon does not believe that our local police departments should have had the power to hold this killer, instead, his position is that illegal immigration is a "federal problem" and it would interfere with foreigners coming forward...so, we let this killer loose!

I wonder who Hillary or Obama would endorse? I bet dollars to donuts they wouldn't want Cannon. I think they would LOVE a freshman from Utah in the House compared to someone like Congressman Cannon.

If Cannon had influence he would have gotten our federal lands back. Cannon has no interest in returning Utah to Utahns. He only wants to be Bush's lap dog. Cannon wants the federal government keep the land, because he wants to keep it an issue so people will continue to vote for him.

I would rather have bush give us our land back than send out a letter for one of his blind cronies. Why don't both these politicans do something instead of spewing empty words.

If he has Bush's endorsement that's good enough for me! I'm voting for anyone but Cannon! He's been in office supporting the current administration and look at the mess the country is in! This is typical Utah mentality when it coms to politics. Vote in the incumbent and complain about how things are going, whine that we need to do things to change things for the better all while keeping things the same. When you do nothing, nothing happens! GET IT???

This is so typical of Utah politics.

Republican delegates are so out of touch with the mainstream it is sad. They are unfortunately only a reflection of our state legislature. It is a result of having a one party system with no checks or balances on abuses of power.

IM I am a state delegate as well, and will vote for any of them except Rep Cannon. That is what I told my precinct I would do, and was elected by acclimation, with about 70 attending. I would think that Cannon would have begged Bush not to endorse him. Most consider Bush's endorsement similar to being endorsed by Pres. Herbert Hoover in 1930.

Even if illegal immigration is not considered, Cannon has been a poor representative for Utah the past 10 years. The Republicans are out of power and so now is the time to change. We would never even see a difference.

An indorcement from Bush is NOT necessarily a good or desireable thing !

I am reading tons of accusations with no substance behind them. "A State Delegate" isn't voting for Cannon but doesn't give much of a reason. All he says is that even if we take illegal immigration out of the equation - Cannon is a bad representative of Utah. What specifics have you disagreed with?

Chris Cannon is a complete embarassment to the state of Utah. In addition, no one should be welcoming Bush's endorsement who will undoutedly go down in history as the worst president in the history of our beloved country.

Lots of speculation and populism on this post, again. And asking David Leavitt if Cannon has influence is like the LA Lakers what they think of the Utah Jazz. I can't believe someone is even using Leavitt as an authority on Cannon.

Go ask David Leavitt why it is his brother Mike Leavitt endorsed Chris Cannon every election while Mike Leavitt served as Governor? Ever bother to listen to what Mike Leavitt had to say about Chris Cannon's influence? He spoke candidly and in glowing terms about how effective Chris Cannon was in helping Utah with issues back in DC. Campaigns aside, not even Mike Leavitt has agreed with the assessment of his little brother David Leavitt.

And as for Chris Cannon not getting Utah land back from the Feds. True. Neither has Matheson, Hansen, Bennett, Hatch, Garn, Moss, etc, etc, etc. That is why they call it a Land War. It's not like all you need to do is ask really nicely. If that were the case it would have been done 50 years ago.

Fact is, I have not read one good reason to remove Cannon. Just lots of passion and bias. No facts. Until then, vote Cannon.

"Communiy'based policing is a powerfulo law enforcment tool. By developing strong ties with local communities, police departments obtain valuable information allowing them to fight crime, keep kids off drugs, and combat gang violence in neighborhoods. In commumities where people are afraid to to talk to local police, more crimes go unreported and fewer witnesses come forward."

Nice quote.

In this you will find two answers. First, Cannon supports having local law enforcement work closely with ICE when it comes to enforcement. Second, he believes in creating a positive environment in which illegal aliens will come forward. It is called a comprehensive solution.

And no, I don't work for Cannon in any capacity. (Accused of that last time.) I read the news paper and when I have questions I make phone calls and get answers. Have you ever bothered to read the report that his immigration committee wrote up about two years ago? It boils down to attacking the problem from every angle, not just one approach. Did you read the papers during this last legislative session when he clearly stated that the local law enforcement had a role in immigration.

Some of you completely distort facts to serve a purpose.