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Townhall
On
Cantor's Breathtaking Blowout Loss
Guy
Benson
Jun
11, 2014
Our
breaking news post captured how thoroughly thunderstruck professional
politicos were by House Majority Eric Cantor's primary loss on
Tuesday. As the news continues to sink in, a few thoughts:
(1)
Always, always vote. You just never know.
(2)
Cantor didn't just lose, which is shocking enough in and of itself;
he got blown out by ten points. Some people have suggested that
Democratic chicanery may have played a role in Dave Brat's
mega-upset, perhaps as retaliation for this recent maneuvering by
Virginia Republicans. It's certainly possible some form of "Operation
Chaos" was afoot, but even a modest surge of Democratic
crossovers in an open primary cannot explain the outcome or the
margin of this race. Cantor straight-up got beat. Also, this:
(3)
Everyone on Twitter immediately began assigning their preferred
meaning to Cantor's loss, one of the most popular being that the Tea
Party isn't dead. This is true. The GOP "establishment" has
had a strong cycle, shepherding its candidates through the primary
process this cycle in many key races, but recent upsets in
Mississippi and now Virginia show that the Tea Party Right still
wields influence over the Republican nominating process. Beware,
though, of people taking credit for Dave Brat's victory. Some radio
hosts and conservative media figures boosted him, but most national
Tea Party groups stayed out of the race, which was written off as a
lost cause. This was an authentic grassroots effort that took
advantage of a low-profile, sleepy primary and an under-prepared
incumbent (more on that later) to score a jaw-dropping win.
(4)
Another fast-congealing piece of conventional wisdom is that
immigration reform is dead. Cantor was a supporter of moving
legislation on the issue, and Brat built up a good deal of his
support (but not all of it) by flogging the issue. And yes, it's
tough to imagine the Republican-held House of Representatives going
anywhere near immigration any time soon. After Republicans' 2012
defeat -- fueled by abysmal support among non-white voters -- many
elected officials within the party were terrified of not acting on
immigration reform. Now, many of the same members are likely
petrified of what the base might do to them if they go along with
anything that has the faintest whiff of "amnesty." That's a
significant sea change in perception, and perception is reality in
politics...
Read
the rest of the article at Townhall
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