Dead Tea Party Defeats Cantor

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The State of Virginia has spoken, and they have proclaimed loud and clear that they reject amnesty and the establishment attitude of the republican leadership, and that the Tea Party hasn't quite coughed its last breath just yet.  The good news is amnesty-flirting Eric Cantor, the man next in line behind House Speaker John "Orangeman" Boehner, and who has emerged as being a squishy establishment republican, lost in his primary.  The bad news is that he is now a lame duck willing to do whatever damage he wishes on his way out.

The Associated Press called the loss by Cantor the "upset of the ages."  The winner?  A little known, Tea Party backed candidate capitalizing on the unpopular GOP calls for compromise on the illegal alien issue.  The media suggests this loss could mark the end of Cantor's political career.

As for the impact on future legislation regarding immigration, the impact is clear.  The outcome of the Virginia Primary is a loud and clear signal that amnesty is an unpopular stance, and in turn this creates a condition that emboldens Conservatives.

Democrats seized on the upset, because they believe conservatism and the Tea Party is a losing recipe.  The loss of Cantor to a Tea Party Conservative, according to the liberal left, is evidence that the Democrat Party fight for controlling the U.S. House of Representatives is within their grasp.  They already believed that Cantor was the face of extreme policies, and are delighted that he was knocked off his perch by someone that in their opinion is even more extreme than Cantor. . . which in their thinking makes the Tea Party guy an even bigger liability for the Republican Party in the general election in November.

So who beat Cantor?

His name is David Brat, an economics teacher at Randolph-Macon College, a small school north of Richmond.  He pulled off the win after raising a little over $200,000 for his campaign, but gaining big league endorsements from conservative activists like radio host Laura Ingraham. 

Cantor spent more than $1 million in April and May alone to try to beat back his challenge, and other groups poured funds into Cantor's campaign effort as well. The American Chemistry Council, whose members include many blue chip companies, spent more than $300,000 on TV ads promoting Cantor. Political arms of the American College of Radiology, the National Rifle Association and the National Association of Realtors also spent money on ads to promote Cantor.

The battle is not over for Brat, yet.  His opponent in November will be Democrat Candidate Jack Trammel, who is also a professor at Randolph-Macon.

The district is solid Republican.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

House Majority Leader Cantor Defeated in Primary - Associated Press