” Dave Brat sends a shock through the New York/Washington axis. His victory shows a classic denial of political reality by the political establishment.”
This is so misstated.
No, Brat’s VICTORY sends a shock through the establishment axis.
Brat is a newbie and while I and most have high hopes for him and his potential influence, there was widespread perception that Cantor was a skunk. And if he was about 15% less skunky, he probably would have been re-elected.
It is unproven whether Brat can maintain his principles in the barnyard. A conservative has indeed been elected. A RINO has been rejected. That’s all one can say about the current state of affairs. High hopes were exuded when Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio and Rand Paul and yes, even Cantor himself were elected. Many of those hopes didn’t quite pan out when they were immersed in the swamp and got a load of that Washington DC slime on them.
Thad Cochran's re-election team would prefer you use a different term. ;)
/johnny
Technically, a conservative has been nominated, not elected. That was a primary, only. While it’s likely, there is no guarantee Brat will win the general election in November.