The backlash grows

A couple of days ago I predicted that Republican Congressman Chris Cannon would lose his primary election next week and his downfall would be due to his liberal stance the immigration issue. In the comments, a couple of readers expressed skepticism. If recent events are any indication of how the race is going, Cannon is definitely in trouble.

First off we find that members of the Open Borders Lobby over the past two weeks have been giving the Cannon campaign an emergency transfusion of cash -- nearly $134,000 -- for a last-minute TV and radio ad campaign to help Cannon over the top. Meanwhile, his opponent John Jacob doesn't seem to be very eager to match the contributions with cash from his own pocket. Odd behavior, unless he knows something from his own internal polling. Either he's way behind and doesn't want to waste his money, or he's way ahead and doesn't feel he needs to.

Then we find that the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has flatly told the White House there will be no immigration reform this year. While they probably have gotten an earful from their constituents on the issue, I can't help but think that they have seen what is going on in Utah and have heard the message, loud and clear: No Amnesty.

We'll see what happens next week, but I can't help but feel the same as Jacob: There is a "perfect storm" brewing in the state. The massive backlash over illegal immigration that I predicted back in April is becoming bigger than even the Republican Establishment's worst nightmares. It appears as if Chris Cannon will be its' first victim.