Posted on 09/15/2007 10:04:07 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Rep. Eric Cantor, the deputy Republican whip, would be his party’s best shot at holding John Warner’s Senate seat.
As Patrick Ruffini has pointed out, Cantor is ideally positioned as a congressman from the Richmond suburbs. He can connect with downstate voters without alienating northern Virginia suburbanites. He is a proven money-raiser. In a primary, the conservative Cantor would have to be favored to beat northern Virginia moderate Tom Davis.
Everyone who follows politics knows that Virginia is changing, and that 2008 is shaping up to be another bad year for Republicans. But Virginia isn’t becoming a liberal state. James Webb didn’t run as a liberal when he narrowly won his Senate seat, and the state’s voters enacted a ban on same-sex marriage the same day he won. What doomed George Allen was the perception of intolerance and backwardness. Cantor won’t be tagged that way. The fact that he’s Jewish will help.
Republicans shouldn’t let worries about 2008 become self-fulfilling. The state is not yearning to have a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators. (Incidentally, we suspect that Senator Webb will take a more conservative line if he is serving alongside a Republican from Virginia.) And if Cantor wants to be a senator, this is the year to run. Running in 2012 against an incumbent Webb will probably be harder.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Who knows? Eric Cantor could be ther Fred Thompson of Virginia. He’d be a great candidate.
He’s a Congressman and former state Representative. His voting record is conservative, but he has an urbane, unthreatening manner. His district is in central Virginia.
...and he is Jewish, which should help with the Jewish vote, who normally favor Democrats (for some strange reason).
Isn’t Mark Warner running for this seat?
He sure is. Right now the likely GOP candidates are Jim Gilmore, seen as a failed Governor, and Tom Davis, whose voting record in the House is seen as not conservative enough.
I’ll bet immigration will be a big issue with what is going on in Prince William Co.
Cantor is my Representative - a solid conservative from what I’ve seen.
I know Warner is heavily favored at this point but you never can be sure. I think at this point in 1995 not even the most optimistic Republican would have guessed that Gov Ben Nelson would lose the ‘96 Senate race in Nebraska. Though considering the seat was won by Chuck Hagel, I suppose we would have been better off if Nelson had won!
my kind of jew-he gets a high rating from the American Conservative Union and the NRA and the lowest rating from the commie scum at the aclu-he’s like the antidote to schumer
He’s my Representative also (Louisa). I would hate to lose him, but would sacrifice him for the greater good.
Go Cantor -- I agree, he'd make a great candidate!
We’ve been running straw polls on our blog, Virginia Virtucon, on this senate race. Cantor has won rounds 1 and 2 against a number of other GOP names and he is leading in round 3.
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