CNBC/NYT’s Harwood Blames Anti-Semitism for Cantor’s Defeat

Newsbusters ^

[chessplayer]

Discussing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s surprising primary loss, on Friday’s Washington Week on PBS, John Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC, a regular on NBC and MSNBC, and a political writer for the New York Times, blamed hostility to Jews in Cantor’s “very rural conservative southern district.”

“Eric Cantor is a Jewish Republican. This is a very rural conservative southern district where that is not a -- you don’t have a lot of Jewish members of Congress from the South.”

Host Gwen Ifill, hardly a conservative, jumped in to counter Harwood’s presumption: “Oh, but he’s been elected several times from this district.”

[Lisbon1940]

No drumming is necessary when one side doesn’t compete.

[zeestephen]

Thanks.

Interesting background.

I had five years of Latin in the 60’s, and I had completely forgotten that.

I may have “lost” my Latin, but I still remember my Goldwater Conservatism!

[BobL]

“Eric Cantor is a Jewish Republican. This is a very rural conservative southern district where that is not a — you don’t have a lot of Jewish members of Congress from the South.”

I guess, then Cantor converted to Judaism in the past two years, since Republicans didn’t seem at all bothered by his religion in the past?

[Texas Mulerider]

For an insight as to how Conservative Southerners view Jews in politics, remember that the number three man in the Confederate Government was Judah P. Benjamin, who had been a Jewish Senator from Louisiana.

Thanks for pointing this out. Also, the only Jewish military cemetery outside of Israel is the Hebrew Confederate Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. It was established by the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association of Richmond, and relied heavily on donations from the United Confederate Veterans.

[scrabblehack]

Also I don’t see how Cantor’s district is very rural. I would propose land area is a good metric, although not perfect. A district might have a very large land area yet if 90% of the voters are urban you could call it an urban district.

Smallest CD (land area): NY 13 - Charlie Rangel D
Largest CD (land area): AK 1 - Don Young R

Some states leave water area unassigned.

Cantor’s district is 240th out of 435 - slightly larger (more rural) than the median but not by much.

As Southern Districts go (Old Confederacy plus Kentucky):
smallest district FL 24
largest district TX 23

Cantor’s district is 65th out of 144 - slightly smaller (less rural) than the median southern seat.

[BobL]

We’re talking about journalists here. If they see a church (other than Uniterian Universalist), they classify the entire district as rural.

Actually, just by your research, I would say his district was about as dead-center America as you can get, for a district - close enough to be near “the action” (i.e., DC in this case), yet still lots of farms, and everything else in between.

[scrabblehack]

MCF is probably right - first elected in 2000.
Under the 2002-2010 lines it appears his district was 255th largest out of 435.

Among Southern Republican seats, 2014, he’s 35th out of 103....more urban than the median.