Every once in a while, events remind us that politics can be very entertaining. Today's case in point: John Jacobs, a Utah politician running for Congress, who believes that Satan has made his life difficult ever since announcing his candidacy against Chris Cannon in the Republican primary. Jacobs has had business deals delayed, preventing him from putting as much cash as he would have liked into the campaign:

"You know, you plan, you organize, you put your budget together and when you have 10 things fall through, not just one, there's some other, something else that is happening," Jacob said.

Asked if he actually believed that "something else" was indeed Satan, Jacob said: "I don't know who else it would be if it wasn't him. Now when that gets out in the paper, I'm going to be one of the screw-loose people."

Jacob initially said the devil was working against him during a Wednesday immigration event, then reiterated his belief Thursday in a meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board.

"There's a lot of adversity. There's no question I've had experiences that I think there's an outside force," he said.

As a Catholic, I believe that Satan does exist, and that he continually tempts us to separate from God in order to keep us from our eventual salvation. Generally speaking, I don't believe that Satan causes delays in business deals that might impact a primary race for the US Congress. If Satan wanted to have an effect on the race, I suspect that he would work his wiles on Jacobs in a completely different manner. Maybe Satan would have Jacobs blame all his problems on him while talking to the media -- now, that would be more Satan's style.

I think Jacobs sounds like the kind of politician who doesn't want to take responsibility for his own missteps -- and we have enough of that species of politicians in office already. Rep. Cannon should have no problem getting to the general election this year.

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