Jacob a "loser"
The Evans and Novak Political Report, a publication of conservative commentator and CIA agent outer Bob Novak, summed up the 3rd Congressional Race this way: Jacob was a "loser," but Rep. Tom Tancredo is a bigger loser:
"Utah-3: This race, decided yesterday decisively in favor of Rep. Chris Cannon (R) -- as we anticipated -- highlighted the pros and cons of running a total amateur against a seasoned politician. On the one hand, challenger John Jacob (R) had no record to run on. His backers seemed pleased just to vote for someone who wasn't Cannon, who has a record as the administration's front-line immigration advocate. Jacob also had money he had accumulated from his years in business and could spend in the race.
"On the other hand, Jacob was prone to say and do stupid things on the campaign trail. For example, he called Cannon a "bum" during a televised debate. He could have cost himself the election when he said, twice, that Satan was preventing him from being elected to Congress. A seasoned campaigner would never make such ridiculous mistakes, by far the oddest things to come out of the campaign.
"Probably the next oddest thing about this race was the embrace of Jacob by the anti-immigration right -- odd but explicable. Jacob, who always had trouble (or at least avoided) articulating clear positions on anything, was really not far from Cannon on any issue, including immigration, during the campaign. In fact, he was talking openly about a guest-worker program in the campaign's final weeks. The real key was that the destruction of a vulnerable Cannon would embolden the anti-immigration and anti-guest-worker elements on the right, forcing Republicans to re-think their approach to the issue.
"In one sense, this race proved to be anticlimactic. The lessons that come from it are the usual ones: Amateurs lose in politics, incumbents win, and you can't beat even a vulnerable incumbent with a loser for a challenger.
"But it says something about the power of the immigration issue that even someone like Jacob could break 40 percent against an incumbent who is weak on one issue but otherwise strong among conservatives.
"The biggest loser in this race is Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who is now zero for two on congressional primaries so far (he backed second-place finisher Robert Vasquez in Idaho-1 last month). Tancredo demonstrated his political naívete once again by backing a clueless challenger like Jacob. This seat is as Republican as any in the nation and will remain in Republican hands this fall. Likely Republican Retention."
-- Thomas Burr
"Utah-3: This race, decided yesterday decisively in favor of Rep. Chris Cannon (R) -- as we anticipated -- highlighted the pros and cons of running a total amateur against a seasoned politician. On the one hand, challenger John Jacob (R) had no record to run on. His backers seemed pleased just to vote for someone who wasn't Cannon, who has a record as the administration's front-line immigration advocate. Jacob also had money he had accumulated from his years in business and could spend in the race.
"On the other hand, Jacob was prone to say and do stupid things on the campaign trail. For example, he called Cannon a "bum" during a televised debate. He could have cost himself the election when he said, twice, that Satan was preventing him from being elected to Congress. A seasoned campaigner would never make such ridiculous mistakes, by far the oddest things to come out of the campaign.
"Probably the next oddest thing about this race was the embrace of Jacob by the anti-immigration right -- odd but explicable. Jacob, who always had trouble (or at least avoided) articulating clear positions on anything, was really not far from Cannon on any issue, including immigration, during the campaign. In fact, he was talking openly about a guest-worker program in the campaign's final weeks. The real key was that the destruction of a vulnerable Cannon would embolden the anti-immigration and anti-guest-worker elements on the right, forcing Republicans to re-think their approach to the issue.
"In one sense, this race proved to be anticlimactic. The lessons that come from it are the usual ones: Amateurs lose in politics, incumbents win, and you can't beat even a vulnerable incumbent with a loser for a challenger.
"But it says something about the power of the immigration issue that even someone like Jacob could break 40 percent against an incumbent who is weak on one issue but otherwise strong among conservatives.
"The biggest loser in this race is Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who is now zero for two on congressional primaries so far (he backed second-place finisher Robert Vasquez in Idaho-1 last month). Tancredo demonstrated his political naívete once again by backing a clueless challenger like Jacob. This seat is as Republican as any in the nation and will remain in Republican hands this fall. Likely Republican Retention."
-- Thomas Burr
8:27 AM
| 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home