Down Goes Eric Cantor

[Rick_Kitchen]

Brat is rated as the “hottest professor” at Randolph-Macon. There must not be a lot to work with, there.

[elucidator]

@Terr

… I hate to see a nice Jewish boy demean himself in that way.

Still, kinda like it that there’s a nice Jewish boy who talks like he took Daisy Duke to the Prom.

Quite a few Jewish folks in my native Waco, but mostly they were over in Temple.

[aceplace57]

Ah, that can be Eric’s new job. Chazzan at his temple. Cantor really is a Cantor.

[Rick_Kitchen]

Brat’s campaign manager is 23 years old, who took down his Facebook page last night after he suddenly got some blowback on some of his positions - - The Campaign Manager Who Beat Eric Cantor Just Deleted His Facebook

[furt]

@Lobohan

Every time? Like when he beat the entire House GOP in a debate?.

Obama is in general a fine speaker, but your claim is misleading. From your link:

For roughly an hour and a half, Obama lectured GOP leaders … Standing on a stage, looking down at his Republican questioners, Obama assumed the role of responsible adult to the GOP children, or, at the very least, of a college professor teaching and lecturing a room full of students.

That is not a debate. Note that in his actual, y’know, debates, with a moderator and where his opponents are treated like equals, his performance have been pretty unremarkable.

[Lobohan]

@furt

Obama is in general a fine speaker, but your claim is misleading. From your link:

That is not a debate. Note that in his actual, y’know, debates, with a moderator and where his opponents are treated like equals, his performance have been pretty unremarkable.

It wasn’t a debate in the sense that it was an actual moderated function. But he responded to their questions, answered them and showed why they were wrong.

And if you think any of the chucklefucks who were asking the questions would have shone if given a podium, I find that unlikely.

[dropzone]

@Shayna

At least this schmoe won’t hold any power in Congress and likely won’t sit on any committees.

Our congressman was Henry Hyde and even my own wife voted for him because he was such big magic. Rookies in the House ain’t worth shit to their home districts.

[dropzone]

@Rick_Kitchen

Brat’s campaign manager is 23 years old, who took down his Facebook page last night after he suddenly got some blowback on some of his positions - - http://gawker.com/the-campaign-manager-who-beat-eric-cantor-just-deleted-1589410682?utm_campaign

The silver standard? Just how stupid IS this kid?

[Lobohan]

@dropzone

The silver standard? Just how stupid IS this kid?

Tea Party Libertarian level.

[Pashnish_Ewing]

@elucidator

Quite a few Jewish folks in my native Waco, but mostly they were over in Temple.

In honor of all who are familiar with central Texas, I salute you.

[2ManyTacos]

To reiterate upon what I said earlier:

I have been almost entirely unable to think about anything else other than this story for the past 24 hours. Seriously, I am simultaneously shocked, ecstatic, jubilant, & thrilled that this miracle actually took place.

I can not stand Cantor in every conceivable way & I am so damn happy that he lost this so humiliatingly.

[BDBoop]

And he’s stepping down as leader.

Eric Cantor dropping leadership post, calls loss 'personal setback' | CNN...

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@mhendo

It’s also worth noting that, while his RMC page accurately lists his educational CV, his political website stretches the truth a little bit:

I don’t know about you, but if i read that, i’d think that he had attended Princeton University. Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University are in the same town, but they’re are not the same institution.

Yes, that is deceiving.

[bengangmo]

So the big question - and the only one that really matters to in my mind…

Is there any chance at all, that if a great campaign manager, money and awesome support is thrown at this by the democrats, they can take away the seat?

[elucidator]

Its Virginia, not Lourdes.

[Ambivalid]

@2ManyTacos

To reiterate upon what I said earlier:

I have been almost entirely unable to think about anything else other than this story for the past 24 hours. Seriously, I am simultaneously shocked, ecstatic, jubilant, & thrilled that this miracle actually took place.

I can not stand Cantor in every conceivable way & I am so damn happy that he lost this so humiliatingly.

Your fervor is odd.

[GIGObuster]

@bengangmo

So the big question - and the only one that really matters to in my mind…

Is there any chance at all, that if a great campaign manager, money and awesome support is thrown at this by the democrats, they can take away the seat?

I think the next days will tell, if a skeleton is found in Brat’s closet I think that will happen. The issue has been that the district is very red, and I do not see that changing soon.

[BrainGlutton]

John Nichols writes in The Nation:

But Brat’s low-budget campaign came with a twist. He ran as something rare in American politics—so rare that many political commentators have a hard time comprehending the calculus. On a number of issues, the challenger positioned himself as an anti-corporate conservative. Indeed, as Politico noted during the course of the campaign, “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.”

That does not make Brat any sort of progressive, or even a populist by most contemporary measures; nor does it make his harsh right-wing positions on a number of issues any more noble than those same positions when they are taken by Republicans who regularly pocket checks from Wall Street interests. Brat has some ties to wealthy libertarians, and he’s written about “the moral foundations in Ayn Rand”—even if he “says…he isn’t a Randian.”

Yet Brat’s anti-corporate rhetoric distinguished him from Cantor, and from most prominent Republicans—whether they identify with the Republican “establishment” or the Tea Party wing of a party that in recent years has been defined by its subservience to corporate interests.

From the start of the campaign, Brat was aggressive in his opposition to immigration reform—attacking Cantor for making tepid attempts to move the GOP toward a more moderate position on the issue. But even Brat’s crude campaigning on immigration came with an anti-corporate twist. “Eric Cantor doesn’t represent you, he represents large corporations seeking a never-ending supply of cheap foreign labor,” the challenger argued.

[BobLibDem]

Rachel Maddow gave this some much needed perspective last night. We’re all reading this as a huge backlash against immigration reform. The polling doesn’t support that. Most people in that district embrace immigration reform. What they don’t like is the Republican congressional leadership. Eric Cantor simply got too big for his britches and stopped caring about his district. Brat ran a single-issue campaign on immigration, but he could have picked any other issue (abortion, gun control, the designated hitter) and still beaten Cantor.

This all shakes down as great news for the only sane party standing. Republicans are going to misread this as an excuse to slam the door on immigration reform. This will push Hispanics to the Democratic Party. When your party hates blacks, Hispanics, women, and the poor, it’s going to be tough to win elections.

[Terr]

@BobLibDem

When your party hates blacks, Hispanics, women, and the poor, it’s going to be tough to win elections.

Don’t get high on your own supply. Don’t believe your own propaganda. Or you know what - do believe it. Better for us.