Notes on Cantormageddon

You knew Majority Leader Eric Cantor was vulnerable–the press had already reported a non-trivial Anybody But Cantor vote in his district. But I would have settled for his challenger, Dave Brat, getting more than 40%. I was all ready to (legitimately) spin that as a warning shot across Cantor’s bow. Instead, Brat went and actually beat Cantor–decisively, by 10 points, 55% to 45%. He and his campaign manager Zachary Werrell obviously ran a very effective race with minimal resources–against Cantor’s millions. Independent anti-Cantor actors like the We Deserve Better group — and various local conspiracies we don’t even know about — probably played a role as well.**

But the main issue in the race was immigration. It’s what Brat emphasized, and what his supporters in the right wing media (Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Mark Levin) emphasized. It’s the charge Cantor defended against—by conceding the issue and posing as a staunch amnesty opponent.*** But Cantor had signed onto the GOP’s pro-amnesty “principles” and endorsed a poll-tested but irresponsibly sweeping amnesty for children (a “founding principle” of the country, he said). Brat opposed all this, even as illegal immigrant children were surging across the border in search of a Cantor-style deal.

“There’s only so much amnesty-salvaging spin the MSM has left. You can expect to hear, over the next few weeks, that Cantor was really a terrible candidate and maybe a horrible person. It’s amazing he got 44%! I don’t know about that. He somehow got to be Majority Leader. I do know that if he hadn’t embraced amnesty (for the “kids, specifically, and more generally with the GOP “principles,”) he would have won.”

“You’ll also hear that “Cantor’s loss only tells us about the views of the right-wing faction of the right-wing party in a heavily right-wing district.” But the comprehensivists and their MSM tools have been trying for two years to convince us that Republicans — even Tea Partiers — were really OK with legalization, even a “path to citizenship.” Only yesterday the NYT was pitching this case, without bothering to mention any skeptics. Turns out it’s BS. The more difficult point is that while the public may be roughly, inconclusively split on amnesty, the anti-amnesty voters have all the intensity while pro-amnesty voters tend to consider the issue not all that much of a priority. In a democracy, ties go to intensity. (Although the Senate’s Gang of 8 monstrosity wouldn’t survive a plebiscite either — it would be quickly picked apart.)”

“You’ll hear that the problem was mainly that Cantor was someone who would “talk out of both sides of their mouth” on amnesty–as if he’d have won if only he’d embraced it 100%. But show me a pro-amnesty Republican who doesn’t talk out of both sides of their mouth. That’s the comprehensivist game plan–fool the right wing by making lots of noise about (phony) border security provisions, about opposing a “special”path to citizenship, about imposing (fake) rigorous requirements, and then smuggle the amnesty by them. Brat’s election suggests they are harder to fool than that.”

(from the article):"But Cantor had signed onto the GOP’s pro-amnesty “principles” and endorsed
a poll-tested but irresponsibly sweeping amnesty for children (a “founding principle” of the country, he said)."

Old Sarge:" .. for the general election, the (DNC-funded) LIEbertarian candidate will be sure to siphon off enough votes so the Leftist can win."

Agreed , this was just the Primary !
Eric Cantor lost the election because he had lost his Conservative "core values " that got him elected in the first place, and became part of the liberal establishment.
Now it's time to prepare for the General Election
If David Brat doesn't get support from us , or the GOP, and should get defeated at the polls,
the GOPe will say:" We told ya so !"
We need to get him into office so as to change things in Washington , not just in Virginia, and represent the wishes of his constituency .

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