Posted on 08/06/2008 9:51:25 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan
The conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth said Wednesday that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has evolved into the kind of vice presidential candidate it could get behind if Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) should tap him.
The group argued that Cantor has been “consistently strong in several economic policy areas” and, after a start in the “key area” of government spending that was “less strong,” the Club for Growth now thinks that Cantor “ranks among the most pro-growth members in the House.”
“Over the past two years, Rep. Cantor has been one of the few Republicans to come to grips with the sorry state of the GOP and lead by example,” the group said in a release. “If Sen. McCain wants to win in November, he will need to choose someone who recognizes how badly Republicans have strayed from the principles of limited government and economic freedom. Eric Cantor gets it.”
The Club for Growth noted that, in 2007, Cantor “rose to the top” of Republican House members, scoring 95 percent on its congressional scorecard and ranking 21st overall.
In the release, Club for Growth President and former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) took the opportunity to praise Cantor as another chance to ding former presidential candidate and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, long a nemesis of the group.
“McCain’s vice presidential pick will be crucial for his campaign and for the future of the GOP,” Toomey said. “Choosing someone like Mike Huckabee would indicate an abandonment of limited-government, free-market principles. However, picking someone like Eric Cantor, who has tried to help the Republican Party reclaim the mantle of fiscal conservatism, could make the difference between victory and defeat. For economic conservatives, Eric Cantor would be a good choice.”
Here is how they describe themselves:
Club for Growth is a national network of thousands of Americans, from all walks of life, who believe that prosperity and opportunity come through economic freedom. We work to promote public policies that promote economic growth primarily through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, training and educational activity.
The primary tactic of the separate Club for Growth PAC is to provide financial support from Club members to viable pro-growth candidates to Congress, particularly in Republican primaries.
Club for Growth Policy Goals:
Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
Death tax repeal
Cutting and limiting government spending
Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
Expanding free trade
Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
Replacing the current tax code
School choice
Regulatory reform and deregulation
Please sign Congressman Eric Cantor’s petition to demand the Democrats come back to the House
http://www.callbackcongress.com/
So much for “unknown”
If the country doesnt know Congressman Eric Cantor by now, they never will..
Come out of your caves...
Vice President Eric Cantor...
Though my first choice is still 20 year Congressman Duncan Hunter, who also stayed on the House floor..
:)
Sheer pandering to get the Jewish vote. Who ever heard of Cantor before last week when his name surfaced as a VP possiblity?
I’m sure he’s a nice guy and may become a viable Presidential candidate some day—but does he have the gravitas to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency?
Is McCain going to offer the country someone with so little experience and reputation as Cantor as his replacement in case he passes? The electorate might say, well, the Republicans don’t think experience is important either so I guess OBama is OK.
Scores 0% by NARAL on pro-choice voting record, but rated 100% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-life stance.
Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance.
Rated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record.
Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes.
Rated 100% by FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration.
Rated 0% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record.
Based on the above scores, he was rated as a "Hard-Core Conservative."
Sounds good to me.
That includes Hunters son should he get elected, to whom the best advice I can give is stand like your father, but make a lot more noise...
I have a vague recollection of that, but can’t pinpoint it. Sounds right tho...
Cantor has more experience than Obama.
“Sheer pandering. . . “
Cantor has a 97% ACU rating; that’s more conservative than most Freepers. Give me that kind of pandering any day.
But you’re right. Screw principals. Never mind that whoever the VP is will have 100% name recognition in a week. We need someone who has name recognition NOW, like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Charles Manson, or Adolf Hitler.
Assuming that he does have more experience, he’s way behind on the crucial name recognition status, probably way behind any Democrat Obama is likely to tap—precisely because of his own lack of experience.
Although this election is about Obama, McCain is going to have to have a VP who will be a comfortable and reassuring fit with the electorate from Day 1—not a candidate that will get the reaction “Say Who?”
In this race, the Republicans aren’t going to have the luxury of time to spend introducing an unknown. You can only get away with that when you have a very strong candidate in the first chair.
"Say Who?"
He’s given up earmarks. I used to always ask him about his voting record at his advisory council meetings and sometimes the answers were less than satisfactory, but I believe now that he has given up the typical Washington attitude (although he still has a few curious votes).
The only thing to pick apart about that record is why the NEA gave him 17%, LOL!
Of course, McCain usually goes against Repub 'common wisdom'; and suspect he will do the same here.
Who?
Well, Cantor did get 0% from the NEA in other years.
Hunter/Cantor or Bolton/Cantor.....well I can dream. If McCain picks Cantor, it will easier for me to vote for McCain in November. Right now, my vote in November will be against Obama, not for McCain. Cantor would make the pill go down a lot smoother.
Sure thing, then we can have TWO rinos on the ticket instead of just one. And then all the evangelicals and purist conservatives will stay home and say screw it. Then in January we can say President Obama - good plan. (/sarc)
Um...
No.
“McCain just needs to pick ‘Mitt’, and be done with it.”
Eric Cantor would be a fine choice. There are some other fine choices out there as well, who would be *much* better, both electorally and on abiding by conservative principles, than would Romney: Tim Pawlenty, Rob Portman, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Mike Pence, Haley Barbour, John Kasich, Paul Ryan, and Steve King come readily to mind.
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