Posted on 07/25/2008 12:27:28 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Conservatives wary of John McCain and worried about who he'll choose for a running mate are offering up ideas left and -- more to the point -- right. One of the ideas gaining momentum in conservative circles is Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
McCain-Cantor Campaign Button Cantor, the 45-year-old Republican chief deputy whip of the House, has three great attributes: youth, conservative bona fides and geographic desirability, as Virginia will likely be a crucial swing state in this year's presidential election.
All of which may explain why McCain had a private lunch last weekend with Cantor and his wife, Diana, in the Hamptons at the residence of Revlon mogul Ronald Perelman, a major GOP donor and hefty contributor to Jewish causes. (Perelman held a fundraiser that same evening for McCain.)
Asked about the lunch and whether McCain discussed the possibility of choosing Cantor as his running mate, Cantor spokesman Rob Collins told us what we hate hearing most: "No comment."
But someone who isn't shy at all about touting Cantor's prospects on the GOP presidential ticket is Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.), whose district is next door to Cantor's.
Goode, who has become Cantor's No. 1 booster, tells the Sleuth McCain should choose the Virginian for two main reasons: he's a prodigious fundraiser, something McCain desperately needs to compete against Barack Obama's money machine, and he's a true conservative.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.washingtonpost.com ...
OK,let us hear the downside on this guy.
OK,let us hear the downside on this guy.
I much prefer him over Mitt, Huck or Pawlenty.
Button, button who’s got the button :-)—sorry folks it’s Friday.
Eric who? Never heard of him. That’s a lot of recognition to gain in 3 months.
No real downside. Eric’s one of the good guys. Would that he were running for Senate from Virginia rather than Gilmore.
I forget the exact context, but he made some goofy misstatement in an interview with Chris Matthews that we would no doubt see over and over. That’s about all the “real” dirt they’d have on him.
I still contend that he’d rather be speaker.
I live in the adjacent state of North Carolina. I never heard of him, but if this is McCain’s choice it could turn out to be a perfect choice for a young conservative, especially with McCain’s age being one of his many weaknesses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cantor
Cantor is Jewish. Which is both a positive and a negative. It will definitely draw off some of the 60 percent of Jews who say they will vote for Obama. Think FL and NY.
But how many will not vote for the ticket BECAUSE of Cantor’s religion. I suspect it will be a very small percentage.
Wasn’t that Virgil Goode himself?
No. He’s my congressman and pairing him with that a-hole McCain would end his career.
It would make an interesting contrast. A Jew as the VP on the Republican side and a Democrat presidential candidate that many think may be a Muslim.
Pretty much unknown. Probably not well-vetted yet. We don’t know what states he might bring into play. He’s not even statewide in Virginia, but I would guess that he’d still make Virginia unwinnable for Barack, unless Obama was able to get a big-name Virginia democrat to join him, and all of them have already said “no thanks”.
Of course, I think Virginia is probably unwinnable for Obama anyway, so “winning Virginia” isn’t high on my list of reasons to pick a VP candidate.
He is a solid conservative, and would help McCain pry Jewish votes away from the Democratic ticket.
He was promoted as a candidate minority whip after Republicans lost control of the House in 2006.
Same story. Different comment and Congressman.
Eric said something that sounded like he didn’t understand the Constitution. Even Matthews caught it.
Young, conservative, dynamic, neo-Orthodox Jew with a strong respect for protection of religious belief.... if McCain picks this guy, I’ll be fired up.
And how many people heard of Dan Quayle before he was picked?
Eric is my congresscritter and I like him. He’s been pushing the drill here, drill now agenda. He’s good on immigration. He’s young but not too young. That’s why I don’t think Jindal is good choice. If you want to point out BO’s lack of experience, then putting someone on the ticket younger than BO detracts from that argument. Frankly, I think Louisiana needs Jindal more than McCain does.
Cantor’s actually done something in his career that will contrast favorably with BO. He’s been good on issues that conservatives care about. I would hate to lose him as a congresscritter. He has said that he wants to be speaker. That’s his career goal.
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