ERIC CANTOR - MAJORITY WHIP -BLOWN OUT
Less than 24 hours after his stunning Republican primary defeat, Rep. Eric Cantor said Wednesday he will step down from his position as House Majority Leader on July 31. It comes one day after his shocking loss to Tea Party-affiliated challenger Dave Brat in his district's Republican primary.
"Effective July 31, I will be stepping down as Majority Leader," Cantor told a herd of reporters gathered at a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon. Cantor's resignation will set in motion a scramble to replace him at the No. 2 spot in House Republican leadership. Cantor on Wednesday endorsed House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy with his "full support" if McCarthy decides to run for the majority leader spot.
The man expected to replace Boehner as the next speaker of the House lost his primary Tuesday in Virginia. The outcome shocked Eric Cantor, losing to an unknown challenger Dave Brat. The political pundits and analysts immediately had their Wee Gee boards and Abacuses’ completely overhauled. Frankly it was described by one writer I know (Frank Goochie) that he blew his political balls off. They could not determine whether it was by a tea party sniper or a self-inflicted de-balling. After Cantor's devastating defeat, those pundits are trying to answer the critical question:
Why and how did the number two become number two?
HE WAS VERY SHREWD
- Too shrewd playing both sides of the fence discourages loyalty
among his constituents "He
has always been seen as somewhat calculating changing his position as needed
and especially on immigration in the final weeks of the campaign.
HE WAS VERY AMBITIOUS
- CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger noted that as the No. 2 Republican in
the House, Cantor was in line to become speaker, a position he wanted. "He was seen as very ambitious,
somebody who spent a lot of time fund-raising for the Republican Party,"
meaning trying to make allies and friends and watching Boehner’s back forcing
Boehner to purchase bulletproof underwear.
HE WAS IN WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIMING
- Ambition and calculation lead to being disconnected. He was in
Washington on Election Day, not back in his district "His confidence, his smugness, his arrogance cost him
his seat." Borger agreed.
"This is a repudiation of Eric Cantor personally, that he failed Politics
101, which is to keep in touch with your district," she said.
BRATS
EARTHLY CAMPAIGN
- Brat's campaign didn't come close to matching Cantor's deep pockets, but Brat
made up for the fund-raising shortfall by rallying his staunchest supporters. "Money can't buy enthusiasm,"
Votes buy elections.
The real answer lies in voter turnout, which stood at just 12% on Tuesday. But they were out to support Brat not Cantor. "When you get these very low turnout primaries and the people are not paying attention to, they can be easily hijacked by activists. There is no question Eric Cantor would have won a general election in his district," Avlon said.
HE WASNT LIKED THAT MUCH BY THE TEA POTTERS
Conservative (ultra) media
corralled the troops to vote for Brat in numbers that Cantor did not see
coming. Neither did his team or pollsters. "Laura Ingraham, for example, to name one talk radio
host, was very supportive of Brat, even held a rally for him in Virginia this
time last week. The top of her website today said, 'Vote Dave Brat today.'
THE
DEMON-CRATS FOR CANTOR
Larry Sabato, diirector of the University of Virginia Center for Politics said
Democrats, who make up 43% of the district, played a role as well. "There was a major outreach to
Democrats in that district," Sabato said. "You had Brat operatives
going to Democratic Party committees, even on election eve, asking them to go
to the polls to get rid of Eric Cantor.
THE PERFECT STORM BUILDING
Cantor had been taking conservative position after conservative position
after conservative position, but almost 100% wasn't enough for these folks. And
I think of it as a major message to Republican leadership,"I think they're
kind of at the proverbial fork in the road. They can either be a congressional
party and win these congressional seats by going further to the right, or they
can become a presidential party in which you have to move to the middle.” He tried the Washington two-step.
He is a Financial Teapot, more hardcore Pot than Tea. He supports strong United States-Israel relations.
Cantor stated that a “stronger U.S.-Israel relationship” remains a top priority for him and that he would be “very outspoken” if Obama "did anything to undermine those ties."
Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Cantor met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just before Netanyahu was to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This is good and bad, I agree with him, support our only true ally in the Mideast, but he did not follow protocol. Read on.
According to Cantor's office, he "stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration" and "made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States." Cantor was criticized for engaging in foreign policy.
Nancy Pelosi met with the President of Syria, Cantor himself had raised the possibility "that her recent diplomatic overtures ran afoul of the Logan Act, which makes it a felony for any American 'without authority of the United States' to communicate with a foreign government to influence that government’s behavior on any disputes with the United States." So he went and did the same thing.
HIS PLATFORM - BEST EXPLAINED AS "GOTHIC REPUBLICAN PARTY A-HOLDER"
Cantor opposes public funding of embryonic stem cell research and opposes elective abortion. (Personally he can drop dead on this issue)
He is rated 100% by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and 0% by NARAL Pro-Choice America, indicating a pro-life voting record. He is also opposed to same-sex marriage, voting to Constitutionally define marriage as between a male and a female in 2006.
In November 2007 he voted against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation.
He also supports making flag burning illegal.
The NAACP rated him 19% in 2006, indicating an anti-affirmative action voting record.
He is opposed to Gun Control, voting to ban product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers in the US
He voted not to require gun registration and trigger-lock laws in the District of Columbia.
He has a rating of "A" from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
On Nov. 2, 2010, Cantor told Wolf Blitzer of CNN that he would try to trim the federal deficit by reducing welfare.