Tea Party Knocks Off Eric Cantor

[planosteve]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated Tuesday by a little-known economics professor in Virginia's Republican primary, a stunning upset and major victory for the tea party.

Cantor is the second-most powerful member of the U.S. House and was seen by some as a possible successor to the House speaker.

His loss to Dave Brat, a political novice with little money marks a huge victory for the tea party movement, which supported Cantor just a few years ago.

Brat had been a thorn in Cantor's side on the campaign, casting the congressman as a Washington insider who isn't conservative enough. Last month, a feisty crowd of Brat supporters booed Cantor in front of his family at a local party convention.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 0-20-05-45

[GFB]

I'm truly shocked..and I have mixed feelings about this.

It may mean.. We just gave this seat to the Democrats, but wow.. this is probably the biggest statement AND the biggest success the Tea Party people have ever had.

[Sangersteve]

The dem challengers are not much to look at, that being said there is already whispers that the dems voted (they can do that in Va)for Brat to give them a softer opponent.

[BigTex]

I'm surprised there hasn't been gun violence because of this.

[planosteve]

First house leader to loose an election since 1899!
Whether this will be a good thing in the long run will take awhile to sort out. Nobody knows much about this guy Brat.

[Red Oak]

A big Ol Rebel Yell !

You Scoundrels in D.C. we're a coming to reckon with you !

[Cowman52]

I'm not real sure you can hollar tea party too awful much. Guy ran a campaign on a shoe string, tea party or no one else helped enough to make up the 7000 some votes that he won by. Tea party didn't want to back another loser so they sat on their Hands and their money.
Think this is more of screw you Washington D C rather than some statement on the way the country is leaning.

[Red Oak]

I believe the leaning is towards "screw you D.C."

[GFB]

Yes

[Grassman]

Maybe he needed to go. He's Not a fan of the 2nd amendment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLSzjyXJANI

[Bob Of Burleson]

Why Cantor’s loss is especially bad news for big business

By Jia Lynn Yang
The Washington Post

The country's most powerful business lobbying groups already knew they had a problem with the GOP when Tea Party lawmakers nearly forced the country into a massive default of its debt last year.

But with Eric Cantor's shocking defeat Tuesday night, things for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable just got a whole lot worse.

For one, they lost a major defender of their favored policies--from the beneficial tax treatment of private equity income to immigration reforms favored by the country's biggest tech companies. But even worse for their prospects, Cantor lost to a challenger who specifically attacked him for his close ties to business -- going so far as to single out the BRT and the Chamber.

"The central theme of Brat’s campaign is that Cantor is beholden to business — specifically the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable," wrote Politico in April.

MORE

[GFB]

Rush is admonishing people to not think that the Washington insider Republicans will now be afraid.

Instead, be prepared that this will make them angry..and he wouldn't put it past them to push amnesty harder now, while Cantor is still the leader.

[planosteve]

I don't get the tea party connection. This guy was a stealth candidate. He was not supported by any tea party organization. If the tea party is taking over, why did Lindsey Graham win so big. He's no tea party favorite.

From what I can see he's a big govt., big spending, Keyesnain. Not surprising, since most college economic professors are. He also has a Master Degree degree from a Presbyterian Seminary in New Jersey. His doctorate is from another private religious affiliated school, American University in DC. Kind of a strange combination.

[GFB]

I don't get the tea party connection. This guy was a stealth candidate. He was not supported by any tea party organization. If the tea party is taking over, why did Lindsey Graham win so big. He's no tea party favorite.

From what I can see he's a big govt., big spending, Keyesnain. Not surprising, since most college economic professors are. He also has a Master Degree degree from a Presbyterian Seminary in New Jersey. His doctorate is from another private religious affiliated school, American University in DC. Kind of a strange combination.

Rush said that best as well.

There is no Tea Party in the sense that the media tries to understand and define.

No leaders..no contract with America..no Convention.

These are simply people that used to just be too busy to get involved..that feel they 're now forced to do the work that their Representatives were elected to do..and return the country to some manner if sanity, Constutution and morality.

There's no room for finding ways to make illegals legal in any if that.

[planosteve]

I went through my list of reliable sources and found nothing. Searching further I ran into this at zerohedge.com:
Allen described Brat as "a weird duck" and criticized him for serving on then-Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine's Joint Advisory Board of Economists. Allen, who has advised Cantor's campaigns since 1991, said. "[Brat] doesn't like being called a liberal college professor, but that's what he is and what he's always been. Tea Party conservatives don't serve as an economic adviser to Tim Kaine."
You can read the whole thing here: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-1 ... david-brat
I get the idea that he is called a "conservative" more for his religion than his economics.

[Bob Of Burleson]

POLITICO Breaking News

Rep. Eric Cantor will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. at the Capitol. The Virginia Republican is expected to step down as House Majority Leader a day after he was defeated in a GOP primary.

Watch live: http://www.politico.com/livestream/

You can still catch the whole news converence; they're late getting started.

[planosteve]

The reason Cantor lost was low turnout 13%. His supporters took him for granted and he did them too. He is a neocon creep who alienated some of his base and was opposed by talking heads Laura Ingram and Mark Levin. So, it was an anomaly. The projections were wrong because it didn't poll just the likely voters.

[Bob Of Burleson]

I agree. Just showing up at the polls is winning a lot of elections for the Tea Party.

[GFB]

The reason Cantor lost was low turnout 13%. His supporters took him for granted and he did them too. He is a neocon creep who alienated some of his base and was opposed by talking heads Laura Ingram and Mark Levin. So, it was an anomaly. The projections were wrong because it didn't poll just the likely voters.

That's good and higher than typical turnout for primaries.

We had half that much in California.

[RaisinCain]

IMHO, he lost because of immigration, pure and simple. Most people, D or R, oppose amnesty by about 3 to 1.