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WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon is angry.
Not at the voters who tossed him from his 12-year perch, but at the Republican leaders and those vocal few hammering on about earmarks and lobbing stinging criticism at their own party members. While he says he's not bitter, Cannon argues that some Republicans are tearing apart the Grand Old Party.
"I'm angry at Republican leadership and I'm angry at the people who have demeaned the political process by claiming corruption," Cannon said during an interview this week.
And it appears his successor plans to follow in the mold of one of the politicians Cannon railed against by name: Jeff Flake. In an earlier interview, Jason Chaffetz, who beat Cannon in Utah's June primary for the Republican nomination, lauded Flake, the anti-earmark crusader, and said he wants to be Flake's "wingman."
Cannon says that Flake, an Arizona congressman, is a friend, but has harped on earmarks to the detriment of his own party by not fully explaining the issue.
Earmarks are pet-project funding inserted by members of Congress into spending bills. Critics, like Flake, say they are government waste, while proponents say earmarks ensure members can take care of needs in their own districts. They were a key issue in the primary election.
"I think what he is doing is profoundly wrong for America," Cannon said of Flake. He added Chaffetz should be careful about who he saddles up with in Congress.
Chaffetz disagrees. "I beg to differ and that's why there was an election, and people got to decide," he said.
But Chaffetz also welcomed the advice from Cannon, and said he would gladly meet with him if elected.
"There's a lot of wisdom in what he says," Chaffetz said. "I obviously don't agree with all his viewpoints or I wouldn't have run against him. [But] I've never been opposed to everything he's said or done. There's lots to learn."
And Chaffetz clarified his earlier remark that he would pound on the lectern and raise issues even if it did tick off leadership or his fellow members. A member of Congress has to listen, as well as talk, Chaffetz said.
"You've got to do both; it's finding the right balance," he said. "I don't intend to yell and scream about everything. You've got to pick your issues."
Cannon says a key thing for whoever takes his seat - be it Chaffetz or Democrat Bennion Spencer - is to ensure you have integrity in your dealings with other members, something he says is sorely lacking in Congress now.
"I think maybe a quarter of the people here in Congress are people who have real integrity," Cannon said.
And secondly, Cannon says his successor needs to take a lesson from his playbook: Listen before speaking.
"Some people are tempted [to just talk] and the fact is that talk does nothing in Congress. And in fact it pretty much just alienates other folks, so listen before you talk," Cannon says. "Learn before you speak, say something that is important to hear."
Cannon has sharp words for those he thinks are eating away at their own party's potential success. "The fact is, you've got groups of relatively small numbers of people who are taking advantage of publicity and attention and personal aggrandizement at the cost of good government," he said.
Flake, whom Cannon singled out, declined to comment Friday.