Eric Cantor goes down

[downtown]

No thread on this? Y'all be slippin.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor became the first person in American history to lose his primary while holding that position. He lost Tuesday night to a poorly-funded GOP opponent in the biggest electoral stunner in several cycles.

College professor David Brat defeated Cantor, 56 percent to 44 percent, with 80 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

“I know there’s a lot of long faces here tonight,” Cantor told assembled supporters Tuesday night, with his wife standing by his side. “It’s disappointing sure, but I believe in this country, I believe there’s opportunity around the next corner for all of us.

“So, I look forward to continuing to fight with all of you for the things that we believe in for the conservative cause, because those solutions of ours are the answer to the problems that so many people are facing today.”

It is extremely rare for a member of House leadership to lose — especially in a primary. The most recent majority leader or speaker to lose re-election was the late Democratic Speaker Tom Foley of Washington. But he lost in a general election in the 1994 Republican wave

Full story here: http://atr.rollcall.com/eric-cantor-loses-primary-in-massive-upset/?dcz=

For the tl;dr crowd, Eric Cantor was the #2 Republican in the House. He was hugely influential in House leadership, and may have been responsible for the govt shutdown a few months ago. One of his leadership hallmarks was his ability to exploit and use the Tea Party to further the House agenda...and then he loses in a MASSIVE upset to some college prof who he fundraised 25:1.

A lot of leftys on the internet are reacting with barely concealed joy here, but considering the fact that Cantor lost to a guy who basically made the entire race about immigration (Cantor was not exactly a friend to immigration reform, and this other dude made him out to be Amnesty In Chief guy), I'm not exactly thrilled about having another Steve King-Crypto-racist in the House (assuming a Democrat doesn't beat him, which, give then demographics of the district, isn't too likely.

What's the takeaway here? A heartwarming story of an underfunded challenger pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent American political history? A lesson to what happens to a Republican who even thinks about working with Obama one time out of a hundred? A story with national political implications? Give me your #hot #takes

 

[Kyriakos]

Likely too much of a US-centric thread for most people here, but the few lines i read from yahoo show that the winner of that race is a professor of Economics, so at least he has a position in a uni in a quasi-respectable field ( ).
Other than that? It seems social/racial group polemics and ever increasing polarisation is nicely advancing according to plan. Call JR on the Fema camps.

 

[Tarquelne]

A lesson to what happens to a Republican who even thinks about working with Obama one time out of a hundred?

Something in that ballpark.

While it may be rare for a House leader to lose, I don't find a loss in a primary surprising. GOP candidates have had a lot of pressure in primaries in the last ... what, decade or so? The (possibly Gerrymandered) districts voters KNOW they want a right-winger. They're just not sure if they want some sort of paleo-con or someone on the radical-to-nutter spectrum.

Arguably the voters gave up a measure of real power in order to vote in someone whose unworkable and often distasteful policies* make them feel better. So: Business as usual.

I think Dems. are still rather split on running to the left, or to the center. (Or, at least, what they think is the left and the center.)

*
I made assumptions. Here's an WSJ article. (Based on it, I think I was right.)

Who is David Brat?

 

[Glassfan]

...winner of that race is a (Tea Party!) professor (Oximoron)of Economics, so at least he has a position in a uni in a quasi-respectable field...

 

[Kyriakos]

^So a 'tea party professor' (sic) is less of a uni professor than non-tea party uni professors?

Not sure how being a university professor relies on political factors, but afaik it is supposedly not backed by membership in political groups, and if it was then surely the nepotism would favor members of the demo or repu mainstreams

 

[Glassfan]

^So a 'tea party professor' (sic) is less of a uni professor than non-tea party uni professors?

In the same sense that creationist professors are "less of a uni professor than non-creationist uni professors", yes.

 

[Cutlass]

This is a very odd thing to have happened. Cantor is pretty aggressively extreme right wing. He raised a hell of a lot more money. He has all the name and position advantages. And yet the vote totals weren't even close! Not that I'll lose any sleep over Cantor. He's one of the true villains of the House. But this guy, he's a whackjob. And will make the House even worse.

I guess the real irony is that the Republicans are gerrymandering far right Republicans out of a job now.

 

[Goodfella]

There's a chance this might make it easier for a democrat to win the election if the moderate republicans feel alienated by teahad. However, this district is probably too red for that to happen.

 

[Cutlass]

Democrats have a shot at state wide elections in Virginia. But I can't imagine Cantor allowed his district to have any shot at a Democrat being competitive.

 

[Formaldehyde]

It seems pretty clear that a vastly experienced far-right nutjob who frequently pandered to the Tea Party wasn't far-right enough when it comes to immigration for the likes of the Republican constituents of the state.

Brat, an economics professor and political novice, latched onto the hot-button issue of immigration, accusing Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the GOP-led House, of supporting immigration legislation that would give “amnesty” to millions of people living illegally in the United States.

“If you go knocking door to door, you’ll know the American people think they’re in trouble,” Brat told Fox News. “It was a miracle. God gave us this win.”

Brat, a Princeton graduate and seminar student who teaches at Randolph-Macon College, a small liberal arts school north of Richmond, attempted to downplay the Tea Party vs. Washington establishment narrative about the race.

The upset sent shock waves across Capitol Hill with speculation about whether Cantor would resign his leadership post and if any Republican incumbent would now dare to support immigration reform. Cantor aides did not respond Tuesday when asked if the 51-year-old would launch a write-in campaign in November.

The fact that he is a college professor at a college nobody has ever heard of before is added irony given the incessant whines from the far-right about how higher education is a bastion of leftists, socialists, and even commies. One really wonders how so many Republicans manage to get college degrees without succumbing to the supposed propagandizing.

 

[Goodfella]

Democrats have a shot at state wide elections in Virginia. But I can't imagine Cantor allowed his district to have any shot at a Democrat being competitive.

After last year and 2012 it'll probably continue voting blue but that's mostly sustained by the North, the UVA area, and Hampton Roads. Everything else is solid red.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

"You should have seen the look on his face, it was priceless."

 

[warpus]

and then he loses in a MASSIVE upset to some college prof who he fundraised 25:1.

The guy who won is a tea party guy, right? Isn't the tea party backed by a bunch of people with a whole bunch of money?

Any chance money passed down from tea party big wigs down to this guy that we wouldn't know about?

Either way, I thought that tea party was on a decline. Americans still vote for these crazy people? When is this going to end?

 

[Goodfella]

Jack Trammell wasn't even running, he was just nominated by a committee monday to get sent to the slaughter house against Cantor. He barely even has a website up yet.

But now he might actually have a chance.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Is this the death of the Republican party ?
Will from now on every Republican have to (pretend to) be far too crazy for the general election to stand a chance in the primary ?

 

[BenitoChavez]

Is this the death of the Republican party ?

Tea Party members call themselves Republicans, so there will continue to be a Republican party in some manner.

Will from now on every Republican have to (pretend to) be far too crazy for the general election to stand a chance in the primary ?

Its already like that. Its been like that for several years now.

 

[warpus]

Wait, so does this mean no more Republican presidents?

 

[Cutlass]

Wait, so does this mean no more Republican presidents?

Not necessarily. Though they've put themselves at a disadvantage overall. But any given election can turn on personalities as well as policies. A good Republican candidate who runs a good race could still beat a poor Democratic candidate who runs a poor race.

 

[Kyriakos]

So a Tea-Party vs Mr.T party.

 

[BenitoChavez]

Wait, so does this mean no more Republican presidents?

You underestimate the amount of crazy here in America

McCain and Romney both were moderate Republicans who ran for president. Both changed their political stances to the far right in the primary elections. Both backed off (somewhat) in the general election. Both barely lost.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more Republican presidents.