I don’t think that a candidate is responsible for, or accountable for, every utterance of those who endorse them. But while I’m on the topic of immigration deal supporters calling their opponents racist, a rival campaign noticed that Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who just endorsed Mitt Romney, said last year:

“That disagreement is whether the Republican Party is going to be some kind of new xenophobic, anti-foreigner party or whether we’re going be the party of a country that we’re thrilled has grown … It is an issue where talk show hosts have gotten people worried, have gotten people really concerned. I think there is in some areas a bit of racism involved and fear about the future.”

Mitt Romney is no more responsible for Chris Cannon’s rhetoric than he is for Larry Craig’s behavior. But it might be nice to see one of these guys who want to be seen as tough on immigration call out the pro-amnesty folks within the party who does the DNC’s work for them by calling the Republican base racist and xenophobic.

Having said that, the campaign that noticed this has a candidate that is, um, less than ideal in the eyes of the get-tough-on-illegal immigration crowd.

UPDATE: Fred Piccolo, communications director for Rep. Chris Cannon, writes in to say the criticism above unfair. His take:

#more#

Jim,
I have always been a HUGE fan of the Campaign Spot. However, the above mentioned post I really have to take exception to. Whoever the “rival campaign” is needs to remember not only Reagan’s 11 th commandment, but also needs to do their homework.
First off, the quote you use, in no way, accuses the Republican base of xenophobia or racism. There is no doubt that the debate on immigration, on the extremes, has reached racist or xenophobic heights. Nothing in Cannon’s quote says that the Republican Party is racist or xenophobic. Instead, you have to understand the environment in which the comment was said. He was facing a primary challenger who made him out to be something he wasn’t and played on people’s fears. He didn’t offer anything in terms of policy, just played to fears. He had a fellow Republican in Tom Tancredo’s PAC running ads against Cannon and Mike Pence (They had them both on billboards) as well. On top of that, talk show hosts, NOT Limbaugh or Hannity, but small time players, were spreading things that were extremely unfair. Add all of that up and even NR, which is not a hotbed of extremism, would react.
Beyond leading the charge for the REAL ID Act:
Congressman Cannon voted AGAINST providing federal housing assistance to illegal aliens.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR the Border Fence.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR hiring more Border Agents.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR making repeated attempts to enter the US illegally an aggravated felony.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR establishing an employment eligibility verification system which requires employers to verify the legal status of each employee or face a penalty for withholding employee information.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR requiring the detention of any undocumented immigrant attempting to enter the country after October 1, 2006, until deportation or final decision granting admissions to the U.S.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR providing the funds needed to ensure that illegal aliens in local prisons would remain in custody until deportation.
Congressman Cannon voted FOR penalizing US employers for replacing American workers with immigrant labor.
And…last but not least…he voted, in committee and on the floor, FOR HR 4437, known as “The Sensenbrenner Bill” which – Requires up to 700 miles of fence, requires the federal government to take custody of undocumented aliens detained by local authorities ending catch and release, Eliminates the Diversity Immigrant Visa (also known as Green Card Lottery) program, Sets the minimum sentence for fraudulent documents at 10 years, fines, or both, with tougher sentencing in cases of aiding drug trafficking and terrorism, causes housing of a removed alien to become a felony and sets the minimum prison sentence to three years, and prohibits accepting immigrants from any country which delays or refuses to accept its citizens who are deported from the United States, among other things.
To call someone who had a 100 ACU rating last year, is the 17th most fiscally conservative member of the House according to National Journal, gets NTU awards every year for voting against taxes, is 100% pro-life, receives an A+ from the NRA, and has defended the Bush Administration in the Judiciary Committee like no other, a person who does the “DNC’s work” does a disservice to Republicans and in my opinion, is untrue.
I think if you and Cannon spoke, you would be closer on immigration that you would think.

I see where Cannon’s coming from, and how circumstances can bring one to make a comment that sounds harsher out of context. I guess I’ve heard “there’s racism and xenophobia in this debate” type comments from Lindsey Graham and Mel Martinez types in the past, and yearn for a moratorium on Republicans uttering those particular words…